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Re: [Phys-L] zero point motion and E-M emission



What I meant is that, although one can certainly measure the position of
this particular atom's electron, and as John says, since there is a speed
there must in a bound state be a change in direction, there isn't something
like a classical trajectory. Repeated measurements of the position of the
electron in a specific hydrogen atom wouldn't show a nice continuous
curve. That's all I meant.

Bruce


On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 10:44 AM, Paul Nord <paul.nord@valpo.edu> wrote:

What do you mean when you say there is no trajectory in the ground state?
The 1s orbital does not have a zero diameter, nor is the electron frozen
in place.

The other way this is said: Bound electrons are constantly emitting and
reabsorbing photons at a particular energy of their motion.


On Jun 11, 2013, at 10:42 AM, Bruce Sherwood <Bruce_Sherwood@ncsu.edu>
wrote:

Dunno whether this is relevant, but: Classically radiation is associated
with acceleration, which implies a trajectory with a changing velocity, but
there's no trajectory in the ground state of a hydrogen atom.