quantum-wave equation [`kwän·tǝm ´wāv i´kwā·zhǝn] QUANTUM MECHANICS A partial differential equation which relates the spatial and time dependences of the wave function of a system of one or more atomic or subatomic particles; examples are the Schrödinger equation in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, and the Klein-Gordon, Dirac, Rarita-Schwinger and Proca equations in relativistic quantum mechanics. |