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3 Pictures of QM PDF
3 Pictures of QM PDF
Quantum Mechanics
Thomas R. Shafer
April 17, 2009
, generally.
Quantum Statistics
Commutators
Quantum Statistics
Question of Interpretation
What does quantum mechanics mean?
Inherently statistical
Question of Execution
How do we do calculations?
What is a state? How does a state change in time?
3 Different Answers
Schrdinger
Heisenberg
Dirac
Schrdinger
Heisenberg
Dirac
=
(t)
O
! O
In the Heisenberg picture, the basis does not change with time.
This is accomplished by adding a term to the Schrdinger
states to eliminate the time-dependence.
Operators in the Heisenberg picture, therefore, pick up timedependence through unitary transformations.
Matrix Elements
Schrdinger Picture
Heisenberg Picture
Dirac Picture
Demonstration:
The Canonical Commutation Relation
Time-Dependent Commutators
Time-Dependent Commutators
Operator time-dependence
Time-Dependent Commutators
A Worked Example:
The Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian
Everything commutes
no time-dependence.
Methods of Calculation
Many-Worlds Interpretation
Quantum De-coherence
Thank You!
References
E. Jaynes and F. W. Cummings, Proceedings of
89 (1963)