Describes
a system of particles in terms of a wave function defined over the configuration
of particles having distinct locations is implicit in the potential energy function that determines the wave function, the observable dynamics of
the motion of such particles from point to point. In describing the energies,
distributions and behaviours of electrons
in nanometer-scale
structures, quantum mechanical
methods are necessary. Electron
wave functions help determine the potential energy surface of a molecular
system, which in turn is the basis for classical
descriptions of molecular
motion. Nanomechanical systems
can almost always be described in terms of classical mechanics, with occasional
quantum mechanical
corrections applied within the framework of a classical model. [NTN]
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