When faced with an intractable problem, scientists who cannot solve the problem directly attempt to “work around” their problem by formulating a solution that produces acceptable results but which is not based on fundamental principles.  Time-independent quantum mechanics is one such work-around. The nucleus of an atom represents a conservative electrostatic and gravitational potential field.  There is no unified field theory to describe these fields, either how they function or how they affect electrons in motion within them.  As a result, scientists attempting to formulate a model of atomic electronic structure resorted to a statistical method: time-independent quantum mechanics.   While this model yields acceptable results in many circumstances, it has undermined efforts to formulate electronic orbitals or orbits using a unified electrostatic and gravitational potential field precisely because it presents such an effective work around to this problem.  Both Albert Einstein and Max Planck believed that quantum mechanics would be replaced with a better model in a short period of time, but this is still yet to occur because of the effectiveness of quantum mechanics as a work around. In essence, rather than being an aid in understanding atomic electronic structure, quantum mechanics is now an impediment to understanding how fundamental principles guide atomic electronic structure.  In order for the situation to improve, it must first be made clear that quantum mechanics is a work-around, not a solution.  After this, work can begin in earnest to replace quantum mechanics with a model that is based upon fundamental principles.

Effective work-around limits fundamental understanding

ACS Fall 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.