dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaMeasurement of Time-of-Arrival in Quantum Mechanics
| Authors | Y. Aharonov, J. Oppenheim, S. Popescu, B. Reznik, W. G. Unruh |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/9709031 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9709031 |
| DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevA.57.4130 |
| Journal | Phys.Rev. A57 (1998) 4130 |
Abstract
It is argued that the time-of-arrival cannot be precisely defined and measured in quantum mechanics. By constructing explicit toy models of a measurement, we show that for a free particle it cannot be measured more accurately then $\Delta t_A \sim 1/E_k$, where $E_k$ is the initial kinetic energy of the particle. With a better accuracy, particles reflect off the measuring device, and the resulting probability distribution becomes distorted. It is shown that a time-of-arrival operator cannot exist, and that approximate time-of-arrival operators do not correspond to the measurements considered here.
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"abstract": "It is argued that the time-of-arrival cannot be precisely defined and\nmeasured in quantum mechanics. By constructing explicit toy models of a\nmeasurement, we show that for a free particle it cannot be measured more\naccurately then $\\Delta t_A \\sim 1/E_k$, where $E_k$ is the initial kinetic\nenergy of the particle. With a better accuracy, particles reflect off the\nmeasuring device, and the resulting probability distribution becomes distorted.\nIt is shown that a time-of-arrival operator cannot exist, and that approximate\ntime-of-arrival operators do not correspond to the measurements considered\nhere.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/9709031",
"authors": [
"Y. Aharonov",
"J. Oppenheim",
"S. Popescu",
"B. Reznik",
"W. G. Unruh"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph",
"gr-qc"
],
"doi": "10.1103/PhysRevA.57.4130",
"journal_ref": "Phys.Rev. A57 (1998) 4130",
"title": "Measurement of Time-of-Arrival in Quantum Mechanics",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9709031"
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