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Eigenfunctions. In general, an eigenvector of a linear operator D defined on some vector space is a nonzero vector in the domain of D that, when D acts upon it, is simply scaled by some scalar value called an eigenvalue. In the special case where D is defined on a function space, the eigenvectors are referred to as eigenfunctions. That is, a ...
Eigenvalues and eigenvectors. In linear algebra, an eigenvector (/ ˈaɪɡən -/ EYE-gən-) or characteristic vector is a vector that has its direction unchanged by a given linear transformation. More precisely, an eigenvector, , of a linear transformation, , is scaled by a constant factor, , when the linear transformation is applied to it: .
The quantum harmonic oscillator is the quantum-mechanical analog of the classical harmonic oscillator. Because an arbitrary smooth potential can usually be approximated as a harmonic potential at the vicinity of a stable equilibrium point, it is one of the most important model systems in quantum mechanics.
Sturm–Liouville theory studies the existence and asymptotic behavior of the eigenvalues, the corresponding qualitative theory of the eigenfunctions and their completeness in the function space. The main result of Sturm–Liouville theory states that, for any regular Sturm–Liouville problem: The eigenvalues are real and can be numbered so that.
Given an n × n square matrix A of real or complex numbers, an eigenvalue λ and its associated generalized eigenvector v are a pair obeying the relation [1] =,where v is a nonzero n × 1 column vector, I is the n × n identity matrix, k is a positive integer, and both λ and v are allowed to be complex even when A is real.l When k = 1, the vector is called simply an eigenvector, and the pair ...
It can be shown using the self-adjointness proved above that the eigenvalues are real. The compactness of the manifold M {\displaystyle M} allows one to show that the eigenvalues are discrete and furthermore, the vector space of eigenfunctions associated with a given eigenvalue λ {\displaystyle \lambda } , i.e. the eigenspaces are all finite ...
Position operator. In quantum mechanics, the position operator is the operator that corresponds to the position observable of a particle. When the position operator is considered with a wide enough domain (e.g. the space of tempered distributions), its eigenvalues are the possible position vectors of the particle. [1]
Explicit formulas for eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the second derivative with different boundary conditions are provided both for the continuous and discrete cases. In the discrete case, the standard central difference approximation of the second derivative is used on a uniform grid. These formulas are used to derive the expressions for ...