Adrian M. V. Brânzanic

Thesis · Chapter 5

Epilogue

The chemical bond as an image of the wavefunction

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.

— Ludwig Wittgenstein
Attic black-figure amphora showing hoplites in combat, spears crossed over their round shields.
Champions of Argos and Sparta clash at Thyrea. Of the six hundred, only three walked off the field — for Argos, Alcenor and Chromius, who marched home and claimed the victory.Attic black-figure amphora attributed to the Prometheus Painter — Louvre E 866. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
From the epilogue of the thesis

To emphasize the illusory character that the traditional chemical bond concept possesses we will further compare it, in a ludic manner, with the Battle of the 300 Champions. Fought in 546 BC between the Greek city-states of Argos and Sparta, this battle has a disputed outcome as both belligerents claimed victory at its end. Instead of engaging in a full strength battle, the combatant armies agreed to each deploy their 300 best soldiers in a death match in which victory would be acclaimed by the side that at the end of the battle will have surviving soldiers that could tell the outcome. Both armies retreated to their cities (so that neither side could interfere in the battle itself) and the 600 champions were left alone to fight on the field of Thyrea. At the end of the battle there were only two Argos soldiers still standing — and they consequently retreated home acclaiming victory. What they overlooked, however, was an injured Spartan that, after seeing them gone, managed to survive enough to reach home and thus claim victory as well.

Claiming that the chemical bond, for instance, in the O2 molecule is the outcome of 4 electrons forming two covalent bonds is similar to stating that the Battle of the 300 Champions was fought by the 3 surviving hoplites. In both cases, the contribution of other electrons/hoplites is neglected. Similar to how the outcome of the battle is a consequence of shed blood, so is the chemical bond a consequence of annihilated wavefunction. The electronic density present between the two O atoms forming the O2 molecule exceeds by far the amount required by the presence of 4 electrons. The non-manifesting excess simply annihilates itself by having opposing wavefunction sign in that region. But this does not mean that it is not there; its manifestation in terms of what we called chemical bond is simply canceled out.

Assigning a O=O bond to the O2 molecule resembles the forgotten blood of what became nameless soldiers that fought at Thyrea, while the “=” in O=O resembles the remembered names of surviving soldiers. Indeed, an anthropic behavior and therefore nothing more than an anthropic construct.

Plaster sculpture of a dying nude warrior collapsing against his round shield, one arm raised.
The Spartan they forgot: Othryades — too wounded to follow, he stripped the enemy dead, raised a trophy from their arms, and died alone upon the field.Johan Tobias Sergel, Othryades (plaster). Photo: Historiker, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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