/sci/ - Science & Math

>>10968991
In those situations, the Schrodinger equations aren't exactly solvable for the same reason n-body gravity isn't exactly solvable: too many coupled degrees of freedom. However, using approximations like Slater determinants and mean field theory, the Schrodinger equation can be used to calculate solutions to high enough accuracy for all intents and purposes.

These highly accurate approximate wavefunctions can then be compared with experimentally measured probability densities of molecules like pic related. They show that these approximate solutions really are very close to the exact solutions, and that the unsolvability of the n-body Schrodinger equation is more an issue of computational power than theory.