# What does $\Psi^*$ mean in Schrodinger's formulation of Quantum Mechanics?

I am not a physics student. In one of my courses, some fundamental concepts of Quantum mechanics were needed, so I was going through them when I stumbled upon this.

It says

$$\text{probability} = \int_a^b\Psi^*\Psi\mathrm{d}x\quad\biggl(= \int_a^b\Psi^2\mathrm{d}x\text{ if }\Psi\text{ is a real function}\biggr)$$

Is the $\Psi^*$ in this expression the wave function's conjugate, or something else?

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You are correct. $\Psi^{*}$ denotes the complex conjugate.

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ok, so in general the wave function is given to us and from there we need to proceed or it has general form for various cases that we need to be aware of? –  Jack Jan 8 '12 at 2:55
Usually you get the wave function at time t=0 and the evolution of the wave function is governed by the Schrodinger equation. –  WWright Jan 8 '12 at 2:56

## protected by Emilio PisantyMar 19 '14 at 17:11

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