Existence of orbitals
Do orbitals exist even when they are occupied? Orbitals are mathematical constructs and as such they exist in a mathematical sense regardless of whether they are occupied or not. Whether you can actually say that orbitals exist in reality is a bit dubious. They certainly provide a good description of the observed electron density and behaviour of atoms but they are still only a model. Like everything in science, we develop a model to describe what we observe but that model is not perfect and does not necessarily represent what actually exists. Particularly on a quantum scale, the notion of well defined objects that exist in space starts to become a bit fuzzy.