Electron Charge Density: A Clue from Quantum Chemistry for Quantum Foundations

TL;DR

This paper explores how electron charge density, a concept from quantum chemistry, can inform and support various interpretations of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory.

Contribution

It demonstrates that Schrödinger's electron charge density, supported by quantum chemistry methods, can serve as a foundational clue across multiple quantum physics interpretations.

Findings

Electron charge density is supported by quantum chemistry evidence.

Schrödinger's charge density can be integrated into quantum interpretations.

Supports the compatibility of charge density with quantum foundations.

Abstract

Within quantum chemistry, the electron clouds that surround nuclei in atoms and molecules are sometimes treated as clouds of probability and sometimes as clouds of charge. These two roles, tracing back to Schr\"odinger and Born, are in tension with one another but are not incompatible. Schr\"odinger's idea that the nucleus of an atom is surrounded by a spread-out electron charge density is supported by a variety of evidence from quantum chemistry, including two methods that are used to determine atomic and molecular structure: the Hartree-Fock method and density functional theory. Taking this evidence as a clue to the foundations of quantum physics, Schr\"odinger's electron charge density can be incorporated into many different interpretations of quantum mechanics (and extensions of such interpretations to quantum field theory).