Using this equation, Schrödinger computed the spectral lines for hydrogen by treating a hydrogen atom's single negatively charged electron as a wave, , moving in a potential well, V, created by the positively charged proton. This computation reproduced the energy levels of the Bohr model.

But this was not enough, since Sommerfeld had already seemingly correctly reproduced relativistic corrections. Schrödinger used the relativistic energy momentum relation to find what is now known as the Klein-Gordon equation in a Coulomb potential:

He found the standing-waves of this relativistic equation, but the relativistic corrections disagreed with Sommerfeld's formula. Discouraged, he put away his calculations and secluded himself in an isolated mountain cabin with a lover.^{[citation needed]}