The Correspondence Principle and Wavepackets

One approach used in quantum mechanics to link it to classical physics for high energy eigenvalues, is the use of wavepackets. In this note, we examine a wavepacket approach, already existing in the literature, applied to the Bohr atom. We try to see if results obtained can be discerned without forming a wavepacket. In addition, we try to discuss the role played by classical physics in the quantum wavefunction and suggest that there is a cycling of””plane wave” momentum states with zitterbewegung in addition to classical physics for every energy eigenvalue, large or small. We argue that it is only when the energy eigenvalues become large that one sees sharp peaks in the spatial wavefunction, suggesting localization. (This localization is already well-known in the literature.) The localization allows one to see the classical information more clearly, but it is always present, as are the “quantum mechanical” features that lead to the peaks in the first place.Finally, we question the interference that occurs between wavefunctions used in the linear combination of a wavepacket