Vortices in Atomic Processes

Abstract

The time-dependent Schrodinger equation describes dynamical processes of one-electron species in terms of a complex wave function. The function is inherently complex, therefore zeros occur only when both the real and imaginary parts of the wave function vanish. If this happens at isolated points rather than on a nodal surface one can show the zero must correspond to a vortex. An imaging theorem is given which shows how such vortices can be seen experimentally. Since the theorem requires time propagation from microscopic to macroscopic scales, a method is developed that does just that. Examples of vortices that emerge in dynamical processes are given. The vortices that we nd are linked to the hydrodynamic interpretation of Schrodinger's time-dependent equation.