dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaRealism in Energy Transition Processes: an example from Bohmian Quantum Mechanics
| Authors | J. Acacio de Barros, J. P. R. F. de Mendonca, N. Pinto-Neto |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0307193 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0307193 |
| Journal | Synthese, vol. 154, pp. 349--370, 2007 |
Abstract
In this paper we study in details a system of two weakly coupled harmonic oscillators. This system may be viewed as a simple model for the interaction between a photon and a photodetector. We obtain exact solutions for the general case. We then compute approximate solutions for the case of a single photon (where one oscillator is initially in its first excited state) reaching a photodetector in its ground state (the other oscillator). The approximate solutions represent the state of both the photon and the photodetector after the interaction, which is not an eigenstate of the individual hamiltonians for each particle, and therefore the energies for each particle do not exist in the Copenhagen interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. We use the approximate solutions that we obtained to compute bohmian trajectories and to study the energy transfer between the two particles. We conclude that even using the bohmian view the energy of each individual particle is not well defined, as the nonlocal quantum potential is not negligible even after the coupling is turned off.
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"abstract": "In this paper we study in details a system of two weakly coupled harmonic\noscillators. This system may be viewed as a simple model for the interaction\nbetween a photon and a photodetector. We obtain exact solutions for the general\ncase. We then compute approximate solutions for the case of a single photon\n(where one oscillator is initially in its first excited state) reaching a\nphotodetector in its ground state (the other oscillator). The approximate\nsolutions represent the state of both the photon and the photodetector after\nthe interaction, which is not an eigenstate of the individual hamiltonians for\neach particle, and therefore the energies for each particle do not exist in the\nCopenhagen interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. We use the approximate\nsolutions that we obtained to compute bohmian trajectories and to study the\nenergy transfer between the two particles. We conclude that even using the\nbohmian view the energy of each individual particle is not well defined, as the\nnonlocal quantum potential is not negligible even after the coupling is turned\noff.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0307193",
"authors": [
"J. Acacio de Barros",
"J. P. R. F. de Mendonca",
"N. Pinto-Neto"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"journal_ref": "Synthese, vol. 154, pp. 349--370, 2007",
"title": "Realism in Energy Transition Processes: an example from Bohmian Quantum Mechanics",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0307193"
},
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