The mainstream interpretation of quantum mechanics adopts the probability cloud interpretation to describe the motion of extranuclear electrons. It denies the continuous real orbit of electrons, attributes atomic magnetic moment to the intrinsic property of particles, and explains atomic spectra as traceless spontaneous energy level transitions of electrons. It presupposes that atoms can only absorb photons with energy strictly equal to the energy level difference. Based on the unified physical framework of the Light Source Theory, this paper demonstrates that extranuclear electrons have stable and continuous real orbits of revolution. The centripetal force of the electron orbit is dominated by Coulomb attraction, and gravitational force at atomic scale is negligible. The centripetal force is always perpendicular to the instantaneous motion direction of the electron and does not do work. Only mutual conversion between kinetic energy and electric potential energy inside the system occurs on the elliptical orbit, and there is no spontaneous radiation loss in steady revolution. The constraint for an atom to absorb a photon is that the polarization angle of the photon matches the polarization orientation of the electron orbit, and there is no requirement for the photon energy to correspond to the energy level difference. As long as the polarization matches, photons of any energy can be absorbed. Low energy photons can be absorbed multiple times to accumulate energy gradually, and high energy photons can also be absorbed once to raise the stored energy directly. The orbit adjusts continuously with the change of energy. When the accumulated energy reaches the inherent energy level limit of the atomic system, the original orbit configuration can no longer bear higher stored energy, and the atom releases characteristic photons with fixed energy to form discrete spectra. There is no one to one energy equivalence relationship between absorbed photons and emitted photons, which is the core reason why atomic spectra can be observed and distinguished from background light in the environment. The magnetic field of permanent magnets and the magnetization of materials originate from the directional orbital revolution of electrons. The probability cloud and traceless transition are only mathematical fitting schemes adapted to spectral data rather than physical reality. This interpretation has inherent contradictions such as unexplainable origin of magnetic field, equivalent superluminal transition and Coulomb gravitational collapse. Macroscopic and microscopic phenomena follow unified causal laws, and there are no special motion rules exclusive to quantum systems. Atoms present a spherical three dimensional structure. Extranuclear electrons revolve three dimensionally in spherical space under the three force balance of Coulomb force inertia effect and magnetic force which are perpendicular to each other in pairs. If there is no real orbit, magnetic force has no source of generation, and electrons can only move in a single plane, which cannot explain the spherical shape of atoms. This constitutes an important question to the probability cloud interpretation.
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Jiaqing Yan (2026) studied this question.
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