The investigation of the relation between chemistry and quantum mechanics includes examining how the two theories each describe an isolated molecule. This paper focuses on one particular characteristic of chemistry’s and quantum mechanics’ descriptions of an isolated molecule; namely on the assumptions made by each description that an isolated molecule is stable and has structure. The paper argues that these assumptions are an idealisation. First, this is because stability and structure are partially determined by factors that concern the context in which a molecule is considered (i.e. thermodynamic conditions, time-range of experiment, environment, etc.). Secondly, the stability and structure of a molecule can only be empirically identified with reference to those factors. This paper examines these assumptions in the context of the philosophical literature on idealisations. This examination is a novel contribution that raises interesting questions about the relation between the two theories, the nature of stability and structure, and the function of these assumptions in the two theories.

中文翻译：

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理想化在描述孤立分子中的作用

对化学和量子力学之间关系的研究包括检查这两种理论如何分别描述一个孤立的分子。这篇论文侧重于化学和量子力学对孤立分子的描述的一个特殊特征；即基于每个描述所做的假设，即孤立的分子是稳定的并具有结构。该论文认为这些假设是一种理想化。首先，这是因为稳定性和结构部分由与考虑分子的环境有关的因素决定（即热力学条件、实验时间范围、环境等）。其次，分子的稳定性和结构只能参考这些因素凭经验确定。本文在关于理想化的哲学文献的背景下检验了这些假设。这项研究是一项新颖的贡献，它提出了关于两种理论之间的关系、稳定性和结构的性质以及这些假设在两种理论中的作用的有趣问题。