dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaTime as an operator/observable in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics
| Authors | G. E. Hahne |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0404012 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0404012 |
| DOI | 10.1088/0305-4470/36/25/316 |
| Journal | J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 36 (2003) 7149--7172 |
Abstract
The nonrelativistic Schroedinger equation for motion of a structureless particle in four-dimensional space-time entails a well-known expression for the conserved four-vector field of local probability density and current that are associated with a quantum state solution to the equation. Under the physical assumption that each spatial, as well as the temporal, component of this current is observable, the position in time becomes an operator and an observable in that the weighted average value of the time of the particle's crossing of a complete hyperplane can be simply defined: ... When the space-time coordinates are (t,x,y,z), the paper analyzes in detail the case that the hyperplane is of the type z=constant. Particles can cross such a hyperplane in either direction, so it proves convenient to introduce an indefinite metric, and correspondingly a sesquilinear inner product with non-Hilbert space structure, for the space of quantum states on such a surface. >... A detailed formalism for computing average crossing times on a z=constant hyperplane, and average dwell times and delay times for a zone of interaction between a pair of z=constant hyperplanes, is presented.
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"abstract": "The nonrelativistic Schroedinger equation for motion of a structureless\nparticle in four-dimensional space-time entails a well-known expression for the\nconserved four-vector field of local probability density and current that are\nassociated with a quantum state solution to the equation. Under the physical\nassumption that each spatial, as well as the temporal, component of this\ncurrent is observable, the position in time becomes an operator and an\nobservable in that the weighted average value of the time of the particle\u0027s\ncrossing of a complete hyperplane can be simply defined: ... When the\nspace-time coordinates are (t,x,y,z), the paper analyzes in detail the case\nthat the hyperplane is of the type z=constant. Particles can cross such a\nhyperplane in either direction, so it proves convenient to introduce an\nindefinite metric, and correspondingly a sesquilinear inner product with\nnon-Hilbert space structure, for the space of quantum states on such a surface.\n\u003e... A detailed formalism for computing average crossing times on a z=constant\nhyperplane, and average dwell times and delay times for a zone of interaction\nbetween a pair of z=constant hyperplanes, is presented.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0404012",
"authors": [
"G. E. Hahne"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1088/0305-4470/36/25/316",
"journal_ref": "J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 36 (2003) 7149--7172",
"title": "Time as an operator/observable in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0404012"
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