The concept of electron orbits or a revisit to the early development process of quantum mechanics

SU Zhan

doi:10.12405/j.issn.2097-1486.2025.04.005

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The concept of electron orbits or a revisit to the early development process of quantum mechanics

更新时间：2026-07-28

- The concept of electron orbits or a revisit to the early development process of quantum mechanics
- Emerging Science and Technology(Nat.Sci.Ed.) Vol. 4, Issue 4, Pages: 363-372(2025)
- 作者机构：
  
  中国科学院大学人文学院，北京 101408
- 作者简介：
- 基金信息：
- DOI：10.12405/j.issn.2097-1486.2025.04.005
  CLC： O413.1;N91
- Received：10 November 2025，
  
  Revised：2025-12-02，
  
  Online First：28 July 2026，
  
  Published：25 December 2025
- 稿件说明：
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苏湛.电子轨道概念与量子力学早期发展历程再审视[J].新兴科学和技术趋势,2025,4(4):363-372.

SU Zhan.The concept of electron orbits or a revisit to the early development process of quantum mechanics[J].Emerging Science and Technology,2025,4(4):363-372.
苏湛.电子轨道概念与量子力学早期发展历程再审视[J].新兴科学和技术趋势,2025,4(4):363-372. DOI： 10.12405/j.issn.2097-1486.2025.04.005.

SU Zhan.The concept of electron orbits or a revisit to the early development process of quantum mechanics[J].Emerging Science and Technology,2025,4(4):363-372. DOI： 10.12405/j.issn.2097-1486.2025.04.005.

摘要

电子沿一定轨道绕原子核运动的原子模型在量子力学兴起的早期发挥着至关重要的作用，在标识量子态的四个量子数中，三个都与电子轨道参数相关。矩阵力学兴起后，轨道模型遭到扬弃，但基于轨道图景建立的理论体系却被沿用，这成为了初学者理解量子力学困难的重要原因之一。本文梳理了电子轨道概念伴随量子力学发展的演变过程，进而以电子轨道为例，讨论虚构的理论实体在物理学理论中的作用。论文认为，理论实体是一种启发性物理模型，它是人类理解物理实在的必要的桥梁，它可能并不完全符合真实，但却有助于帮助人类理解远离日常感官经验的物理现象。

Abstract

The atomic model in which electrons move around the atomic nucleus along certain orbits played a crucial role in the early days of quantum mechanics. Among the four quantum numbers used to identify quantum states， three are related to the parameters of the electron orbits. After the emergence of matrix mechanics， the orbit model was abandoned； but the theoretical system based on the orbit picture was still used， which was one of the main reasons for beginners’ difficulty in understanding quantum mechanics.This article reviews the evolution process of the concept of electron orbits along with the development of quantum mechanics， and then takes the electron orbit as an example to discuss the role of fictitious theoretical entities in physical theories.The paper argues that theoretical entities are heuristic physical models that serve as a necessary bridge for human to understand the physical reality. They may not completely correspond to reality， yet they help humans to comprehend physical phenomena that are far removed from everyday sensory experience.

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