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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 ...
hide. In linear algebra, eigendecomposition is the factorization of a matrix into a canonical form, whereby the matrix is represented in terms of its eigenvalues and eigenvectors. Only diagonalizable matrices can be factorized in this way. When the matrix being factorized is a normal or real symmetric matrix, the decomposition is called ...
In quantum mechanics, the angular momentum operator is one of several related operators analogous to classical angular momentum. The angular momentum operator plays a central role in the theory of atomic and molecular physics and other quantum problems involving rotational symmetry. Being an observable, its eigenfunctions represent 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]
Two cases of eigenstates (and eigenvalues) are: for discrete eigenstates | forming a discrete basis, so any state is a sum | = | where c i are complex numbers such that |c i | 2 = c i * c i is the probability of measuring the state | , and the corresponding set of eigenvalues a i is also discrete - either finite or countably infinite.
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 ...