Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
e. In quantum physics, a quantum state is a mathematical entity that embodies the knowledge of a quantum system. Quantum mechanics specifies the construction, evolution, and measurement of a quantum state. The result is a prediction for the system represented by the state. Knowledge of the quantum state, and the rules for the system's evolution ...
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: .
An eigenvalue is said to be non-degenerate if its eigenspace is one-dimensional. The eigenvalues of the matrices representing physical observables in quantum mechanics give the measurable values of these observables while the eigenstates corresponding to these eigenvalues give the possible states in which the system may be found, upon ...
A stationary state is a quantum state with all observables independent of time. It is an eigenvector of the energy operator (instead of a quantum superposition of different energies). It is also called energy eigenvector, energy eigenstate, energy eigenfunction, or energy eigenket. It is very similar to the concept of atomic orbital and ...
In quantum mechanics, a complete set of commuting observables (CSCO) is a set of commuting operators whose common eigenvectors can be used as a basis to express any quantum state. In the case of operators with discrete spectra, a CSCO is a set of commuting observables whose simultaneous eigenspaces span the Hilbert space, so that the ...
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]
Mathematically, a coherent state is defined to be the (unique) eigenstate of the annihilation operator â with corresponding eigenvalue α. Formally, this reads, Since â is not hermitian, α is, in general, a complex number. Writing | α | and θ are called the amplitude and phase of the state .
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 ...