{ "model": { "rank": 5645, "code": "thing-q2362761", "model_id": "vr.tr.wave-function", "name": "wave function", "purpose": "Let an agent explain the wave function, relay its role, properties and forms from quantum physics sources, describe the constructs the registry aliases name, and distinguish the wave function from the state vector abstractly, from classical waves and from probability itself, presenting interpretations with attribution.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Cross-cutting context", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "XCT", "domain": "XCT.QLT", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q2362761/", "tier": 2, "score": 66, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "one-electron wave function", "tensor network", "Coulomb wave function", "normalizable wave function", "Bloch wave", "universal wave function" ], "aliasCount": 6, "merged": 6, "knownIn": 66, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q2362761", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2362761", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-13T19:07:11Z", "providers": [ "Claude" ], "breadth": "written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify", "pass": 2, "wave": 4, "engine": "claude" }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q2362761", "registryId": "vr.tr.wave-function", "name": "wave function", "version": "0.2.0-wave.4", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "XCT.QLT" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q2362761/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.wave-function", "name": "wave function", "purpose": "Let an agent explain the wave function, relay its role, properties and forms from quantum physics sources, describe the constructs the registry aliases name, and distinguish the wave function from the state vector abstractly, from classical waves and from probability itself, presenting interpretations with attribution.", "definition": "In quantum mechanics, a mathematical function describing the quantum state of a system, whose squared magnitude gives probability densities for measurement outcomes, evolving by the Schroedinger equation, with forms and related constructs such as one-electron wave functions or orbitals, normalisable wave functions, Coulomb wave functions for charged particle scattering, Bloch waves in crystals, tensor network representations of many-body states and the universal wave function of interpretations such as many-worlds; interpretations of the wave function remain debated.", "what_it_is_for": "Describing quantum states.", "affordances": [ "explain the concept", "relay properties and forms", "describe related constructs", "distinguish interpretations with attribution" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Complex-valued", "Probability amplitudes", "Evolves unitarily", "Interpretations debated" ], "appearance": "Not a visible object; a mathematical function.", "visual_identification": [ "Function describing a quantum state", "One-electron wave function, normalisable wave function, Coulomb wave function, Bloch wave, tensor network, universal wave function", "State vectors are abstract; classical waves are physical oscillations; probabilities are derived via the Born rule" ], "physical_properties": [ { "quantity": "Schroedinger equation", "typical_range": "1926", "unit": "year", "note": "" }, { "quantity": "Born rule", "typical_range": "1926", "unit": "year", "note": "probability interpretation" }, { "quantity": "normalisation", "typical_range": "integral of squared magnitude equals 1", "unit": "note", "note": "" } ], "families_and_kinds": [ "position and momentum space wave functions", "atomic and molecular orbitals", "scattering states such as Coulomb wave functions", "Bloch waves in solids", "many-body wave functions and tensor networks", "the universal wave function in cosmology and interpretation" ], "related_models": [ { "relation": "is a kind of", "target": "probability amplitude", "why": "in registry terms" }, { "relation": "obeys", "target": "Schroedinger equation", "why": "" }, { "relation": "is interpreted by", "target": "Born rule", "why": "" }, { "relation": "is represented by", "target": "tensor network", "why": "for many-body states" } ], "identifiers": [], "standards_and_regulation": [ "No regulation" ], "failure_modes_and_hazards": [ "Treating the wave function as a physical wave in ordinary space", "Presenting one interpretation as settled", "Registry aliases mixing methods and interpretations" ], "in_scope": [], "out_of_scope": [], "characteristics": [] }, "sources": [], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "understand", "name": "Understand", "description": "What a wave function is.", "rationale": "Science.", "layers": [ { "id": "definition", "name": "Definition", "description": "Definition.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-finding", "name": "Definition", "description": "Definition.", "questions": [ { "text": "What is a wave function, and how does it differ from a state vector, classical wave and probability?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Is the question about formalism, a specific system, computation or interpretation?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "forms", "name": "Forms", "description": "Forms.", "findings": [ { "id": "forms-finding", "name": "Forms", "description": "Forms.", "questions": [ { "text": "What are one-electron, normalisable and Coulomb wave functions, Bloch waves, tensor networks and the universal wave function?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Which entry fits the specific form?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "theory", "name": "Theory", "description": "Theory.", "rationale": "Science.", "layers": [ { "id": "dynamics", "name": "Dynamics", "description": "Schroedinger equation.", "findings": [ { "id": "dynamics-finding", "name": "Dynamics", "description": "Dynamics.", "questions": [ { "text": "How does the Schroedinger equation govern wave function evolution?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which references are standard?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "measurement", "name": "Measurement", "description": "Born rule and measurement.", "findings": [ { "id": "measurement-finding", "name": "Measurement", "description": "Measurement.", "questions": [ { "text": "How does the Born rule connect wave functions to probabilities?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which sources are cited?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "applications", "name": "Applications", "description": "Applications.", "rationale": "Application.", "layers": [ { "id": "chemistry", "name": "Chemistry", "description": "Chemistry and solids.", "findings": [ { "id": "chemistry-finding", "name": "Chemistry", "description": "Chemistry.", "questions": [ { "text": "How are orbitals and Bloch waves used in chemistry and solid-state physics?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits atomic orbital?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "computation", "name": "Computation", "description": "Computation.", "findings": [ { "id": "computation-finding", "name": "Computation", "description": "Computation.", "questions": [ { "text": "How do tensor networks and other methods represent many-body wave functions?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits density matrix renormalization group?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "context", "name": "Context", "description": "Interpretations.", "rationale": "Attribution.", "layers": [ { "id": "interpretations", "name": "Interpretations", "description": "Interpretations.", "findings": [ { "id": "interpretations-finding", "name": "Interpretations", "description": "Interpretations.", "questions": [ { "text": "How do Copenhagen, many-worlds, Bohmian and other interpretations view the wave function, with positions attributed?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Is the presentation balanced?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "history", "name": "History", "description": "History.", "findings": [ { "id": "history-finding", "name": "History", "description": "History.", "questions": [ { "text": "How did de Broglie, Schroedinger and Born develop the concept?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits the history of quantum mechanics?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Should Bloch wave and tensor network be separate primary entries?", "How should quantum physics sources be linked?", "The registry entry has merged aliases naming computational methods and interpretations; should they be split off?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 4, "layers": 8, "findings": 8, "questions": 16 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "abstract concept", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a wave function, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Let an agent explain the wave function, relay its role, properties and forms from quantum physics sources, describe the constructs the registry aliases name, and distinguish the wave function from the state vector abstractly, from classical waves and from probability itself, presenting interpretations with attribution.", "characteristics": { "substance": "abstract", "origin": "conceptual", "agency": "inert" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: one-electron wave function, tensor network, Coulomb wave function, normalizable wave function, Bloch wave, universal wave function.", "6 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 66 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a wave function, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "an abstraction with no physical instance", "physicalCharacter": [ "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Nothing to see. What is recognised is an instance of it, and which instances count is exactly what is argued about." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "one-electron wave function", "tensor network", "Coulomb wave function", "normalizable wave function", "Bloch wave", "universal wave function" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 66 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 6 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one wave function from another, and a wave function from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a wave function, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a wave function, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a wave function is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a wave function, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a wave function, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a wave function is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a wave function sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a wave function, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a wave function, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a wave function is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a wave function from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a wave function, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a wave function, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a wave function is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a wave function passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a wave function between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a wave function, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a wave function, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a wave function is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a wave function, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a wave function is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a wave function, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a wave function, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a wave function is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "definitions-in-contest", "name": "Definitions and who holds them", "description": "What wave function is taken to mean, and by whom.", "rationale": "When a field disagrees about a concept, the disagreement is the content. A model that picks one definition silently destroys the information.", "layers": [ { "id": "competing-definitions", "name": "Competing definitions", "description": "The main readings and the traditions behind them.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-map", "name": "Definitions and their holders", "description": "Each definition with the school or body that holds it.", "questions": [ { "id": "definition-map-q01", "text": "Which definitions of wave function are in use, and which tradition or body holds each?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "definition-map-q02", "text": "What turns on the difference between them in practice?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "operationalisation", "name": "Operationalisation", "description": "How it is measured or applied when it has to be.", "findings": [ { "id": "operational-record", "name": "Measures and proxies", "description": "Instruments and indicators used to stand in for it.", "questions": [ { "id": "operational-record-q01", "text": "How is wave function operationalised or measured in practice, and by what instrument?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "operational-record-q02", "text": "What does that operationalisation leave out, and when does that matter?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "instances-and-use", "name": "Instances, use and consequence", "description": "What counts as an instance of wave function and what follows from calling something that.", "rationale": "Applying a concept is an act with consequences, so a model must say what the label licenses and what it does not.", "layers": [ { "id": "instances", "name": "What counts as an instance", "description": "Clear cases, borderline cases and non-cases.", "findings": [ { "id": "instance-tests", "name": "Tests for an instance", "description": "What would settle whether something falls under it.", "questions": [ { "id": "instance-tests-q01", "text": "What would settle whether something is an instance of wave function?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "instance-tests-q02", "text": "Which borderline cases are argued about, and on what grounds?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] }, { "id": "consequence", "name": "Consequence of application", "description": "Rights, duties or decisions that follow from the label.", "findings": [ { "id": "consequence-record", "name": "What the label licenses", "description": "What an agent may do once something is classified this way.", "questions": [ { "id": "consequence-record-q01", "text": "What follows practically once something is treated as wave function?", "kind": "action" }, { "id": "consequence-record-q02", "text": "What must an agent not infer from the label alone?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a wave function came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a wave function and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a wave function, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a wave function, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a wave function is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a wave function is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a wave function, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a wave function, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a wave function is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 5, "layers": 10, "findings": 12, "questions": 32 } } } }