Abstract:

The shock to which students approaching quantum mechanics for the first time are exposed by the introduction of the postulates on which the mathematical framework of the theory is based, can be much smoothed by a discussion of a semiphilosophical nature about the connection between mathematical theories and the physical reality they are supposed to explain. The general outline of such a discussion is presented, with the purpose of making the introduction of operators to represent physical magnitudes more plausible to the students. © 1966, American Association of Physics Teachers. All rights reserved.