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Mathematical Formulation

This document discusses the mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics. It describes how the state of a quantum system is represented by a vector in a Hilbert space and how physical quantities are represented by Hermitian operators. It also explains how the Schrodinger equation describes the time evolution of quantum states.

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33 views2 pages

Mathematical Formulation

This document discusses the mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics. It describes how the state of a quantum system is represented by a vector in a Hilbert space and how physical quantities are represented by Hermitian operators. It also explains how the Schrodinger equation describes the time evolution of quantum states.

Uploaded by

Stardragon
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Mathematical formulation

Main article: Mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics


In the mathematically rigorous formulation of quantum mechanics, the state of a
quantum mechanical system is a vector {\displaystyle \psi }\psi belonging to a
(separable) complex Hilbert space {\displaystyle {\mathcal {H}}}{\mathcal {H}}.
This vector is postulated to be normalized under the Hilbert space inner product,
that is, it obeys {\displaystyle \langle \psi ,\psi \rangle =1}{\displaystyle
\langle \psi ,\psi \rangle =1}, and it is well-defined up to a complex number of
modulus 1 (the global phase), that is, {\displaystyle \psi }\psi and
{\displaystyle e^{i\alpha }\psi }{\displaystyle e^{i\alpha }\psi } represent the
same physical system. In other words, the possible states are points in the
projective space of a Hilbert space, usually called the complex projective space.
The exact nature of this Hilbert space is dependent on the system – for example,
for describing position and momentum the Hilbert space is the space of complex
square-integrable functions {\displaystyle L^{2}(\mathbb {C} )}{\displaystyle L^{2}
(\mathbb {C} )}, while the Hilbert space for the spin of a single proton is simply
the space of two-dimensional complex vectors {\displaystyle \mathbb {C} ^{2}}
{\mathbb C}^{2} with the usual inner product.

Physical quantities of interest – position, momentum, energy, spin – are


represented by observables, which are Hermitian (more precisely, self-adjoint)
linear operators acting on the Hilbert space. A quantum state can be an eigenvector
of an observable, in which case it is called an eigenstate, and the associated
eigenvalue corresponds to the value of the observable in that eigenstate. More
generally, a quantum state will be a linear combination of the eigenstates, known
as a quantum superposition. When an observable is measured, the result will be one
of its eigenvalues with probability given by the Born rule: in the simplest case
the eigenvalue {\displaystyle \lambda }\lambda is non-degenerate and the
probability is given by {\displaystyle |\langle {\vec {\lambda }},\psi \rangle |
^{2}}{\displaystyle |\langle {\vec {\lambda }},\psi \rangle |^{2}}, where
{\displaystyle {\vec {\lambda }}}{\displaystyle {\vec {\lambda }}} is its
associated eigenvector. More generally, the eigenvalue is degenerate and the
probability is given by {\displaystyle \langle \psi ,P_{\lambda }\psi \rangle }
{\displaystyle \langle \psi ,P_{\lambda }\psi \rangle }, where {\displaystyle
P_{\lambda }}P_{\lambda } is the projector onto its associated eigenspace. In the
continuous case, these formulas give instead the probability density.

After the measurement, if result {\displaystyle \lambda }\lambda was obtained, the
quantum state is postulated to collapse to {\displaystyle {\vec {\lambda }}}
{\displaystyle {\vec {\lambda }}}, in the non-degenerate case, or to {\displaystyle
P_{\lambda }\psi /{\sqrt {\langle \psi ,P_{\lambda }\psi \rangle }}}{\displaystyle
P_{\lambda }\psi /{\sqrt {\langle \psi ,P_{\lambda }\psi \rangle }}}, in the
general case. The probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics thus stems from the act
of measurement. This is one of the most difficult aspects of quantum systems to
understand. It was the central topic in the famous Bohr–Einstein debates, in which
the two scientists attempted to clarify these fundamental principles by way of
thought experiments. In the decades after the formulation of quantum mechanics, the
question of what constitutes a "measurement" has been extensively studied. Newer
interpretations of quantum mechanics have been formulated that do away with the
concept of "wave function collapse" (see, for example, the many-worlds
interpretation). The basic idea is that when a quantum system interacts with a
measuring apparatus, their respective wave functions become entangled so that the
original quantum system ceases to exist as an independent entity. For details, see
the article on measurement in quantum mechanics.[17]

The time evolution of a quantum state is described by the Schrödinger equation:

{\displaystyle i\hbar {\frac {d}{dt}}\psi (t)=H\psi (t).}{\displaystyle i\hbar


{\frac {d}{dt}}\psi (t)=H\psi (t).}
Here {\displaystyle H}H denotes the Hamiltonian, the observable corresponding to
the total energy of the system, and {\displaystyle \hbar }\hbar is the reduced
Planck constant. The constant {\displaystyle i\hbar }i\hbar is introduced so that
the Hamiltonian is reduced to the classical Hamiltonian in cases where the quantum
system can be approximated by a classical system; the ability to make such an
approximation in certain limits is called the correspondence principle.

The solution of this differential equation is given by

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