Schrödinger’s equation is a partial differential equation which describes the state of a particle according to quantum theory. The particle’s state is described by a complex-valued wave function ψ(x,t), where x denotes position and t denotes time. Schrödinger’s time-dependent equation states that
where ℏ denotes the reduced Planck’s constant, m is the mass of the particle, V denotes potential energy, and ∇2 denotes the Laplacian. The wave function ψ is a superposition of states ψn(x,t) which satisfy the time-independent Schrödinger equation
where En denotes energy of the nth state. More concisely, this may be written Hψn = Enψn, so that ψn is an eigenstate of the Hamiltonian H. See Copenhagen interpretation, measurement, observable.