Lectures on Quantum Mechanics

Volume 1 Basic Matters 2nd Edition

Berthold-Georg Englert
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Other Lecture Notes by the Author

Lectures on Classical Electrodynamics

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Names: Englert, Berthold-Georg, 1953– author.
Title: Lectures on quantum mechanics / Berthold-Georg Englert.
Description: Second edition, corrected and enlarged. | Hackensack : World Scientific Publishing
Co. Pte. Ltd., 2024. | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Contents: Basic matters -- Simple systems -- Perturbed evolution.
Identifiers: LCCN 2023040959 (print) | LCCN 2023040960 (ebook) |
ISBN 9789811284724 (v. 1 ; hardcover) | ISBN 9789811284984 (v. 1 ; paperback) |
ISBN 9789811284755 (v. 2 ; hardcover) | ISBN 9789811284991 (v. 2 ; paperback) |
ISBN 9789811284786 (v. 3 ; hardcover) | ISBN 9789811285004 (v. 3 ; paperback) |
ISBN 9789811284731 (v. 1 ; ebook) | ISBN 9789811284762 (v. 2 ; ebook) |
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Subjects: LCSH: Quantum theory. | Physics.
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Printed in Singapore
To my teachers, colleagues, and students
This page intentionally left blank
 Preface

This book on the Basic Matters of quantum mechanics grew out of a set of
lecture notes for a second-year undergraduate course at the National Uni-
versity of Singapore (NUS). It is a first introduction that does not assume
any prior knowledge of the subject. The presentation is rather detailed and
does not skip intermediate steps that — as experience shows — are not so
obvious for the learning student.
Starting from the simplest quantum phenomenon, the Stern–Gerlach
experiment with its choice between two discrete outcomes, and ending with
the standard examples of one-dimensional continuous systems, the physical
concepts and notions as well as the mathematical formalism of quantum
mechanics are developed in successive small steps, with scores of exercises
along the way. The presentation is “modern,” a dangerous word, in the
sense that the natural language of the trade — Dirac’s kets and bras and
all that — is introduced early, and the temporal evolution is dealt with
in a picture-free manner, with Schrödinger’s and Heisenberg’s equations of
motion side by side and on equal footing.
Two companion books on Simple Systems and Perturbed Evolution
cover the material of the subsequent courses at NUS for third- and fourth-
year students, respectively. The three books are, however, not strictly se-
quential but rather independent of each other and largely self-contained.
In fact, there is quite some overlap and a considerable amount of repeated
material. While the repetitions send a useful message to the self-studying
reader about what is more important and what is less, one could do with-
out them and teach most of Basic Matters, Simple Systems, and Perturbed
Evolution in a coherent two-semester course on quantum mechanics.
All three books owe their existence to the outstanding teachers, col-
leagues, and students from whom I learned so much. I dedicate these lec-
tures to them.

vii
viii Lectures on Quantum Mechanics: Basic Matters

I am grateful for the encouragement of Professors Choo Hiap Oh and

Kok Khoo Phua who initiated this project. The professional help by the
staff of World Scientific Publishing Co. was crucial for the completion; I
acknowledge the invaluable support of Miss Ying Oi Chiew and Miss Lai
Fun Kwong with particular gratitude. But nothing would have come about,
were it not for the initiative and devotion of Miss Jia Li Goh who turned
the original handwritten notes into electronic files that I could then edit.
I wish to thank my dear wife Ola for her continuing understanding and
patience by which she is giving me the peace of mind that is the source of
all achievements.
Singapore, March 2006 BG Englert

Note on the second edition

The feedback received from students and colleagues, together with my own
critical take on the three companion books on quantum mechanics, sug-
gested rather strongly that the books would benefit from a revision. This
task has now been completed.
Many readers have contributed entries to the list of errata. I wish to
thank all contributors sincerely and extend special thanks to Miss Hong
Zhenxi and Professor Lim Hock.
In addition to correcting the errors, I tied up some loose ends and
brought the three books in line with the later volumes in the “Lectures
on . . . ” series. There is now a glossary, and the exercises, which were in-
terspersed throughout the text, are collected after the main chapters and
supplemented by hints.
The team led by Miss Nur Syarfeena Binte Mohd Fauzi at World Sci-
entific Publishing Co. contributed greatly to getting the three books into
shape. I thank them very much for their efforts.
Beijing and Singapore, November 2023 BG Englert
 Contents

Preface vii

Glossary xiii
Miscellanea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Latin alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
Greek alphabet and Greek-Latin combinations . . . . . . . . . . xv

1. A Brutal Fact of Life 1

1.1 Causality and determinism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Bell’s inequality: No hidden determinism . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Remarks on terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2. Kinematics: How Quantum Systems are Described 9

2.1 Stern–Gerlach experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2 Successive Stern–Gerlach measurements . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.3 Order matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.4 Mathematization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.5 Probabilities and probability amplitudes . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.6 Quantum Zeno effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.7 Kets and bras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.8 Brackets, bra-kets, and ket-bras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.9 Pauli operators, Pauli matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.10 Functions of Pauli operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.11 Eigenvalues, eigenkets, and eigenbras . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.12 Wave–particle duality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.13 Expectation value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.14 Trace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

ix
x Lectures on Quantum Mechanics: Basic Matters

2.15 Statistical operator, Born rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

2.16 Mixtures and blends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.17 Nonselective measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.18 Entangled atom pairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
2.19 State reduction, conditional probabilities . . . . . . . . . . 64
2.20 Measurement outcomes do not pre-exist . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.21 Measurements with more than two outcomes . . . . . . . 68
2.22 Unitary operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
2.23 Hermitian operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
2.24 Hilbert spaces for kets and bras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

3. Dynamics: How Quantum Systems Evolve 79

3.1 Schrödinger equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.2 Heisenberg equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
3.3 Equivalent Hamilton operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
3.4 Von Neumann equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
3.5 Example: Larmor precession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.6 Time-dependent probability amplitudes . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.7 Schrödinger equation for probability amplitudes . . . . . . 91
3.8 Time-independent Schrödinger equation . . . . . . . . . . 95
3.9 Example: Two magnetic silver atoms . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

4. Motion Along the x Axis 105

4.1 Kets, bras, and wave functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
4.2 Position operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
4.3 Momentum operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
4.4 Heisenberg’s commutation relation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
4.5 Position–momentum transformation function . . . . . . . 115
4.6 Expectation values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
4.7 Uncertainty relation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
4.8 State of minimum uncertainty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
4.9 Time dependence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
4.10 Excursion into classical mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
4.11 Hamilton operator, Schrödinger equation . . . . . . . . . . 131
4.12 Time transformation function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
 Contents xi

5. Elementary Examples 135

5.1 Force-free motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
5.1.1 Time-transformation functions . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
5.1.2 Spreading of the wave function . . . . . . . . . . . 137
5.1.3 Long-time and short-time behavior . . . . . . . . . 142
5.1.4 Interlude: General position-dependent force . . . . 148
5.1.5 Energy eigenstates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
5.2 Constant force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
5.2.1 Energy eigenstates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
5.2.2 Limit of no force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
5.3 Harmonic oscillator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
5.3.1 Energy eigenstates: Power-series method . . . . . . 158
5.3.2 Energy eigenstates: Ladder-operator approach . . . 163
5.3.3 Hermite polynomials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
5.3.4 Infinite matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
5.3.5 Position and momentum spreads . . . . . . . . . . 172
5.4 Delta potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
5.4.1 Bound state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
5.4.2 Scattering states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
5.5 Square-well potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
5.5.1 Bound states . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
5.5.2 Delta potential as a limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
5.5.3 Scattering states and tunneling . . . . . . . . . . . 187
5.6 Stern–Gerlach experiment revisited . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Exercises with Hints 195

Exercises for Chapters 1–5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Index 217
This page intentionally left blank
 Glossary

Here is a list of the symbols used in the text; the numbers in square brackets
indicate the pages of first occurrence or of other significance.

Miscellanea
0 null symbol: number 0, or null column, or null matrix,
or null ket, or null bra, or null operator, et cetera
1 unit symbol: number 1, or unit matrix, or identity
operator, et cetera
A= bB read “A represents B” or “A is represented by B”
Max{ } , Min{ } maximum, minimum of a set of real numbers
(, ) inner product [77]
a∗ , a complex conjugate of a, absolute value of a
Re(a) , Im(a) real, imaginary part of a: a = Re(a) + i Im(a)
a= a length of vector a
a · b, a × b scalar, vector product of vectors a and b
A† adjoint of A [25]
det(A), tr(A) determinant [43], trace of A [49]
| i, h |; |1i, ha| generic ket, bra; labeled ket, bra [33]
| . . . , ti, h. . . , t| ket, bra at time t [81]
h | i, | ih | bra-ket, ket-bra [35]
h. . . , t1 |. . . , t2 i time transformation function [134]
hAi mean value, expectation value of A [48]
[A, B] commutator of A and B [83]
↑z , ↓z spin-up, spin-down in the z direction [33]
x! factorial of x [112]
2 −1
f (x), f (x)
x 7→ f (x):

square, inverse
of the function
f 2 (x) = f f (x) , f f −1 (x) = x, f −1 f (x) = x

xiii
xiv Lectures on Quantum Mechanics: Basic Matters

f (x)2 , f (x)−1 square, reciprocal

2 of the function value:
f (x)2 = f (x) , f (x)−1 = 1/f (x)
dt, δt differential, variation of t
d ∂
, total, parametric time derivative
dt ∂t
∇ gradient vector differential operator
⊗ tensor product: |ai ⊗ |bi = |a, bi [59]

Latin alphabet
a width of the square-well potential [182]
a, b detector settings [4]
ajk , bjk matrix elements [15]
(n)
ak power series coefficients [160]
A, A† harmonic-oscillator ladder operators [163]
A, B matrices [15]
B magnetic field [10]
B0 (t), b(t) on-axis field strength, near-axis gradient [191]
C(a, b) Bell correlation [5]
cos, sin, . . . trigonometric functions
cosh, sinh, . . . hyperbolic functions
e; ex = exp(x) Euler’s number, e = 2.71828 . . . ; exponential function
e, n unit vectors
ex , ey , ez unit vectors for the x, y, z directions [32]
Emagn ; Ek magnetic energy [10]; kth eigenenergy [95]
F flipper [17]
F,F force [11,128]
Ga , Gb generators [128]
h = 2π~ Planck’s constant,
~ = 1.05457 × 10−34 J s = 0.658212 eV fs [82]
H, H Hamilton operator [81], matrix representing H [92]
Hn ( ) nth Hermite polynomial [162]
i imaginary unit, i2 = −1
L coherence length [206]; Lagrange function [127]
M
mass [128]
O t4 terms of oder t4 or smaller [144]
prob(e) probability for event e [27]
p; p momentum [115]; at the stationary phase [156]
P, P (t) momentum operator [113], with time dependence [126]
 Glossary xv

r distance between atoms [97]

q distance in oscillator units [159]
r, t reflected, transmitted amplitude [188]
R,T single-photon counters [3]
Ry ( ) rotation matrix for the y axis [20]
s Bloch vector [54]
sgn(x) sign of x
S+ , S− +selector, −selector [16]
t; t0 , t1 time [81]; time before, after [80]
Uab , Ut (τ ), . . . unitary operators [73]
V0 depth of the square-well potential [182]
V (x) potential energy [128]
wk weights in blending ρ [121]
Wab ; W (p) action [127]; action variable [155]
x, y, z; ẋ cartesian coordinates [9]; velocity [127]
X, Z position operator for the x, z direction [111]
X(t), Z(t) time-dependent position operators [126]

Greek alphabet and Greek-Latin combinations

α phase shift [178]
α, β, . . . ; αk probability amplitudes [16]; kth amplitude [96]
δjk Kronecker’s delta symbol [69]
δ(x − x0 ) Dirac’s delta function [106]
δ(x − x0 ; ) model for Dirac’s delta function [108]
δA, (δA)2 spread, variance of A [120]
∆p(t), ∆z(t) transferred momentum, associated displacement [193]
(t) complex spreading factor [140]
η(x) Heaviside’s step function [208]
θ, ϑ energy parameters (square well) [183]
ϑ rotation angle [29]
κ reciprocal length [173]
κ, k energy parameters (square well) [182]
λ hidden variable [5]; eigenvalue candidate [22]
λ de Broglie wavelength [117]
λ+ , λ− measurement results [47]
Aλ (a), Bλ (b) measurement results [6]
w(λ) hidden-variable weight density [5]
Λ measurement symbol [47]
xvi Lectures on Quantum Mechanics: Basic Matters

µB ; µ Bohr magneton [202]; magnetic dipole moment

vector [10]
π Archimedes’s constant, π = 3.14159 . . .
(1)
ρ, ρ(pair) , ρT , . . . statistical operators [52]
σx , σy , σz ; σ Pauli operators for the x, y, z direction [39]; Pauli
vector operator [40]
σ (1) , σ (2) Tom’s, Jerry’s Pauli vector operator [57]
τ small time increment [81], path parameter [128]
t(τ ), x(τ ) path variables [128]
τ torque [10]
φ rotation angle [20]; complex phase [28]
φk , φ†k kth eigencolumn, its adjoint [96]
ϕ complex phase [28]
ϕ, ϑ azimuth, polar angle [44]
Φ hermitian phase operator [76]
χn (q) wave function factor [160]
ψ(t) time-dependent column of probability amplitudes [94]
ψ(x), ψ(p) position [105], momentum wave function [118]
ω, Ω; ω, Ω angular frequencies; vectors [85,87]
ω; ωkl oscillator frequency [158]; transition frequency [97]
 Chapter 1

A Brutal Fact of Life

1.1 Causality and determinism

Before their first encounter with the quantum phenomena that govern the
realm of atomic physics and sub-atomic physics, students receive a train-
ing in classical physics, where Newton’s∗ mechanics of massive bodies and
Maxwell’s† electromagnetism — the physical theory of the electromagnetic
field and its relation to the electric charges — give convincingly accurate
accounts of the observed phenomena. Indeed, almost all experiences of
physical phenomena that we are conscious of without the help of refined
instruments fit perfectly into the conceptual and technical framework of
these classical theories. It is instructive to recall two characteristic features
that are equally possessed by Newton’s mechanics and Maxwell’s electro-
magnetism: Causality and Determinism.
Causality is inference in time: Once you know the state of affairs —
physicists prefer to speak more precisely of the “state of the system” —
you can predict the state of affairs at any later time, and often also retro-
dict the state of affairs at earlier times. Having determined the relative
positions of the sun, earth, and moon and their relative velocities, we can
calculate highly precisely when the next lunar eclipse will happen (extreme
precision on short time scales and satisfactory precision for long time scales
also require good knowledge of the positions and velocities of the other
planets and their satellites, but that is a side issue here) or when the last
one occurred. Quite similarly, present knowledge of the strength and di-
rection of the electric and magnetic fields together with knowledge about
the motion of the electric charges enable us to calculate reliably the elec-
tromagnetic field configuration in the future or the past.
∗ Isaac Newton (1643–1727) † James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879)

1
2 A Brutal Fact of Life

Causality, as we shall see, is also a property of quantal evolution: Given

the state of the system now, we can infer the state of the system later (but,
typically, not earlier). Such as there are Newton’s equation of motion in me-
chanics and Maxwell’s set of equations for the electromagnetic field, there
are also equations of motion in quantum mechanics: Schrödinger’s∗ equa-
tion, which is more in the spirit of Maxwell’s equations, and Heisenberg’s†
equation, which is more in Newton’s tradition.
We say that the classical theories are deterministic because the state of
the system uniquely determines all phenomena. When the positions and
velocities of all objects are known in Newton’s mechanics, the results of all
possible measurements are predictable, there is no room for any uncertainty
in principle. Likewise, once the electromagnetic field is completely speci-
fied and the positions and velocities of all charges are known in Maxwell’s
electromagnetic theory, all possible electromagnetic phenomena are fully
predictable.
Let us look at a somewhat familiar situation that illustrates this point
and will enable us to establish the difference in situation that we encounter
in quantum physics. You have all seen reflections of yourself in the glass
of a shopping window while at the same time having a good view of the
merchandise for sale. This is a result of the property of the glass sheet that
it partly transmits light and partly reflects it. In a laboratory version, we
could have 50% probability each for transmission and reflection:
glass
..................................................................... ...........
............. ...... ... ...
..... ... ... ...
..... light source .........................................
... ...
... ...
..... .
............
........................................................................
..... ..
..
......................... ....
.................................................. 100%
..........................................................
... ...
... ...
... ...
. ........................... ..
........................
...............................
...
.................
. ... ...............................
...
..
..
..............
.................... ..... .....
. ........................
............................ 50%
.. . .. .....
. .
. .
........
..
............................................ ... ... ..............................................
.............................
........
........................ .... .... .........
reflected 50% ..... .....
... ... transmitted
..
...........
intensity intensity (1.1.1)
A light source emits pulses of light, which are split in two by such a half-
transparent mirror, half of the intensity being transmitted and the other
half reflected. Given the properties of pulses emitted by the source and the
material properties of the glass, we can predict completely how much of
the intensity is reflected, how much is transmitted, how the pulse shape is
changed, and so forth — all these are implications of Maxwell’s equations.
But, we know that there is a different class of phenomena that reveal a
certain graininess of light: the pulses consist of individual lumps of energy
— “light quanta” or “photons.” (We are a bit sloppy with the terminology
∗ Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961) † Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976)
 Causality and determinism 3

here; at a more refined level, photons and light quanta are not the same,
but that is irrelevant presently.) We become aware of the photons if we dim
the light source by so much that there is only a single photon per pulse. We
also register the reflected and transmitted light by single-photon counters:

.............
.............................................................
......
glass
...... ... ...........
..
...
... dim ...
.. single ... ...
... ...
... ...
.................................................
...
... light source
....... ..
..... ........................
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
....... .
photon
. ...................................
... ...
... ...
... ...
............... ..... ... ...
........................................................ ........................
........................ ..
........................... ....
......................
..................... .........................................................
....................
.. ... ... ........................
......... ........................
...... . ...............................................
. .... ....
... ...
........................ .....
...................... .....
..... .................. .. .... ..
.......... ..... ..... .
.........
..
..... .....
single-photon ......... single-photon
counter “R” counter “T”
(1.1.2)

What will be the fate of the next photon to arrive? Since it cannot split
in two, either the photon is transmitted as a whole or it is reflected as a
whole so that eventually one of the counters will register the photon. A
single photon, so to say, makes one detector click: either we register a click
of detector T or of detector R, but not of both.
What is important here is that we cannot predict which detector will
click for the next photon, all we know is the history of the clicks of the
photons that have already arrived. Perhaps a sequence such as

RRTRTTTRTR (1.1.3)

was the case for the last ten photons. In a long sequence, reporting the
detector clicks of very many photons, there will be about the same number
of T clicks and R clicks because it remains true that half of the intensity
is reflected and half transmitted. On the single-photon level, this becomes
a probabilistic fact: Each photon has a 50% chance of being reflected and
an equal chance of being transmitted. And this is all we can say about the
future fate of a photon approaching the glass sheet.
So, when repeating the experiment with another set of ten photons,
we do not reproduce the above sequence of detector clicks, but rather get
another one, perhaps

R T T R R R R T R T. (1.1.4)

And a third set of ten would give yet another sequence, all 210 possible
sequences occurring with the same frequency if we repeat the experiment
very often.
Thus, although we know exactly all the properties of the incoming pho-
ton, we cannot predict which detector will click. We can only make statis-
4 A Brutal Fact of Life

tical predictions that answer questions such as the following: “How likely
are four Ts and six Rs in the next sequence of ten?”
What we face here, in a simple but typical situation, is the lack of
determinism of quantum phenomena. Complete knowledge of the state
of affairs does not enable us to predict the outcomes of all measurements
that could be performed on the system. In other words, the state does not
determine the phenomena. There is a fundamental element of chance: The
laws of nature that connect our knowledge about the state of the system
with the observed phenomena are probabilistic, not deterministic.

1.2 Bell’s inequality: No hidden determinism

Now, that raises the question about the origin of this probabilistic nature:
Does the lack of determinism result from a lack of knowledge? Or, put
differently, could we know more than we do and then have determinism re-
installed? The answer is No. Even if we know everything that can possibly
be known about the photon, we cannot predict its fate.
It is not simple to make this point for the example discussed above
with single photons incident on a half-transparent mirror. In fact, one can
construct contrived formalisms in which the photons are equipped with
internal clockworks of some sort that determine in a hidden fashion where
each photon will go. But in more complicated situations, even the most
ingenious deterministic mechanism cannot reproduce the observed facts in
all respects. The following argument is a variant of the one given by Bell∗
in the 1960s.
Consider the more general scenario in which a photon-pair source always
emits two photons, one going to the left and the other going to the right:

............. ...............
+1 .......... ................... ................................................................ .................................................................................... ................................................................ ... ..
......... .....
.
+1
.. ......... ..... ... ... ... ... ...
... .................
.........
....
Setting ...
.
.
...............................................................
...
.
. photon-pair ...
.
.
...............................................................
...
.
. Setting .
...
...
..
..
.

....... ... ... ... ... ............

. ......... ..
.... ............. .....
a .
...
.
...
source ..
..
..
.... b ... ..........
.. ......... ......
..... ....... .............................................................. .................................................................................... ............................................................. ...... ..
−1 ...... .
.......
..
..............
.. −1
(1.2.1)
Each photon is detected by one of two detectors eventually — with measure-
ment results +1 or −1 — and the devices allow for a number of parameter
settings. We denote by symbol a the collection of parameters on the left,
and by b those on the right. Details do not matter; we just need that
different settings are possible, that there is a choice between different mea-
∗ John Stewart Bell (1928–1990)
 Bell’s inequality: No hidden determinism 5

surements on both sides. The only restriction we insist upon is that there
are only two possible outcomes for each setting, the abstract generaliza-
tion of “transmission” and “reflection” in the single-photon plus glass sheet
example above.
For any given setting, the experimental data are of this kind:
photon pair no. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ...
on the left +1 +1 −1 −1 +1 −1 +1 +1 ...
(1.2.2)
on the right +1 −1 −1 +1 −1 −1 −1 +1 ...
product +1 −1 +1 −1 −1 +1 −1 +1 ...

The products in the last row distinguish the pairs with the same outcomes
on the left and the right (product = +1) from those with opposite outcomes
(product = −1). We use these products to define the Bell correlation C(a, b)
for the chosen setting specified by parameters a, b,
(number of +1 pairs) − (number of −1 pairs)
C(a, b) = . (1.2.3)
total number of observed pairs
Clearly, we have C(a, b) = +1 if +1 on one side is always matched with a
+1 on the other and −1 with −1, and we have C(a, b) = −1 if +1 is always
paired with −1 and −1 with +1. In all other cases, the value of C(a, b) is
between these extrema, so that

−1 ≤ C(a, b) ≤ +1 (1.2.4)

for any setting a, b.

Following Bell, let us now fantasize about a (hidden) mechanism that
determines the outcome on each side. We conceive each pair as being
characterizable by a set of parameters collectively called λ and that the
source realizes various λ with different relative frequencies. Thus, there
is a positive weight function w(λ), such that dλ w(λ) is the probability of
having a λ value within a dλ volume around λ. These probabilities must
be positive numbers that sum up to unity,
Z
w(λ) ≥ 0 , dλ w(λ) = 1 . (1.2.5)

We need not be more specific because further details are irrelevant to the
argument — which is, of course, the beauty of it.
We denote by Aλ (a) the measurement result on the left for setting a
when the hidden control parameter has value λ and by Bλ (b) the corre-
sponding measurement result on the right. Since all measurement results
6 A Brutal Fact of Life

are either +1 or −1, we have

Aλ (a) = ±1 , Bλ (b) = ±1 for all a, b, λ (1.2.6)
and also

Aλ (a)Bλ (b) = ±1 for all a, b, λ . (1.2.7)

This is then the product to be entered in the table (1.2.2) for the pair
that leaves the source with value λ and encounters the settings a and b.
Upon summing over all pairs, we get
Z
C(a, b) = dλ w(λ)Aλ (a)Bλ (b) (1.2.8)

for the Bell correlation, and all the rest follows from this expression.
Before proceeding, however, let us note that an important assumption
has entered: We take for granted that the measurement result on the left
does not depend on the setting of the apparatus on the right, and vice versa.
This is an expression of locality as we naturally accept it as a consequence
of Einstein’s∗ observation that spatially well-separated events cannot be
connected by any causal links if they are simultaneous in one reference
frame. Put differently, if the settings a and b are decided very late, just
before the measurements actually take place, any influence of the setting
on one side upon the outcome on the other side would be inconsistent with
Einsteinian causality. With this justification, there is no need to consider
the more general possibility of having Aλ (a, b) on the left and Bλ (a, b) on the
right. Such a b dependence of Aλ and an a dependence of Bλ are physically
unacceptable, but of course, it remains a mathematical possibility that
cannot be excluded on purely logical grounds.
All together, we now consider two settings on the left, a and a0 , and two
on the right, b and b0 ; then, there are four Bell correlations. We subtract
the fourth from the sum of the other three,
C(a, b) + C(a, b0 ) + C(a0 , b) − C(a0 , b0 )
Z h

i
= dλ w(λ) Aλ (a) Bλ (b) + Bλ (b0 ) +Aλ (a0 ) Bλ (b) − Bλ (b0 ) ,
| {z } | {z }
= 0 or ± 2 = 0 or ± 2
(1.2.9)
where, for each value of λ, one of the Bλ (b) ± Bλ (b0 ) terms
  equals 0 and the
other term is ±2 as follows from (1.2.6). Therefore, · · · in (1.2.9) is ±2
∗ Albert Einstein (1879–1955)
 Remarks on terminology 7

for every λ, and since the integral is the average value, we conclude that

C(a, b) + C(a, b0 ) + C(a0 , b) − C(a0 , b0 ) ≤ 2 . (1.2.10)

This is (a variant of) the so-called Bell inequality. Given the very simple
argument and the seemingly self-evident assumptions entering at various
stages, one should confidently expect that it is generally obeyed by the
correlations observed in any experiment of the kind depicted in (1.2.1).
Anything else would defy common sense, would it not? But the fact is that
rather strong violations are observed in real-life experiments in which √
the
left-hand side substantially exceeds 2, getting very close indeed to 2 2,
the maximal value allowed for Bell correlations in quantum mechanics (see
Section 2.18).
Since we cannot possibly give up our convictions about locality, and
thus about Einsteinian causality, the logical conclusion must be that there
just is no such hidden deterministic mechanism [characterized by w(λ) as
well as Aλ (a) and Bλ (b)]. We repeat:
There is no mechanism that decides the
(1.2.11)
outcome of a quantum measurement.
What is true for such correlated pairs of photons is, by inference, also true
for individual photons. There is no mechanism that decides whether the
photon is transmitted or reflected by the glass sheet; it is rather a truly
probabilistic phenomenon.
This is a brutal fact of life. In a very profound sense, quantum mechanics
is about learning to live with it.

1.3 Remarks on terminology

We noted the fundamental lack of determinism at the level of quantum

phenomena and the consequent inability to predict the outcome of all ex-
periments that could be performed. It may be worth emphasizing that this
lack of predictive power is of a very different kind than, say, the impossi-
bility of forecasting next year’s weather.
The latter is a manifestation of the chaotic features of the underlying
dynamics, frequently referred to as deterministic chaos. In this context,
“deterministic” means that the equations of motion are differential equa-
tions that have a unique solution for given initial values — the property
that we called “causal” above. There is a clash of terminology here if one
wishes to diagnose one.
8 A Brutal Fact of Life

The deterministic chaos comes about because the solutions of the equa-
tions of motion depend extremely sensitively on the initial values, which
in turn are never known with utter precision. This sensitivity is a generic
feature of nonlinear equations and not restricted to classical phenomena.
Heisenberg’s equations of motion of an interacting quantum system are just
as nonlinear as Newton’s equations for the corresponding classical system
if there is one.
In classical systems that exhibit deterministic chaos, our inability to
make reliable predictions concerns phenomena that are sufficiently far away
in the future — a weather forecast for the next three minutes is not such
a challenge. In the realm of quantum physics, however, the lack of deter-
minism is independent of the time elapsed since the initial conditions were
established. Even perfect knowledge of the state of affairs immediately be-
fore a measurement is taken does not enable us to predict the outcome; at
best, we can make a probabilistic prediction, a statistical prediction.
Of course, matters tend to be worse whenever one extrapolates from
the present situation, which is perhaps known with satisfactory precision,
to future situations. The knowledge may not be accurate enough for a long-
term extrapolation. In addition to the fundamental lack of determinism in
quantum physics — the nondeterministic link between the state and the
phenomena — there is then a classical-type vagueness of the probabilistic
predictions, rather similar to the situation of classical deterministic chaos.
 Chapter 2

Kinematics:
How Quantum Systems are Described

2.1 Stern–Gerlach experiment

Now, turning to the systematic development of basic concepts and, at the

same time, of essential pieces of the mathematical formalism, let us con-
sider the historical Stern∗ –Gerlach† experiment of 1922. In a schematic
description of this experiment,

z
........... ...
... ................................................................................................... .................................
... ... .. .. ..
...... .....
y ...........................
... . .
.. ...
...
...
..............................................
.
beam of ... ... ..
....
...
...
...
...................................................................................................
........................................................... silver atoms ...
..
...
.. Ag..
..
................................
....
.
...
collimating oven
screen magnet apertures > 2000◦ C

(2.1.1)
silver atoms emerge from an oven (on the right), pass through collimat-
ing apertures, thereby forming a well-defined beam of atoms, and then
pass through an inhomogeneous magnetic field, eventually reaching a screen
where they are collected. The inhomogeneous field is stronger at the top
(z > 0 side) than the bottom (z < 0 side), which is perhaps best seen in a
frontal view:

atom beam mainly z .

.......... ..................................
at the center; ..
..
....
N.... .......
..... .....
corner shaped north pole
.. .....................
we are looking at ..
·
..... .. .. .. ..
..............................................
... ...
the approaching ... S
......................................
... flat south pole
atoms x .. . .
...........................
(2.1.2)

∗ Otto Stern (1888–1969) † Walther Gerlach (1889–1979)

9
10 Kinematics: How Quantum Systems are Described

Silver atoms are endowed with a permanent magnetic dipole moment so

that there is a potential energy

Emagn = −µ · B (2.1.3)

associated with dipole µ in the magnetic field B. It is the smallest if µ and

B are parallel and the largest when they are antiparallel:

B
........
B
........
B
.......
B
........
...... ...... ...... ......
...... ...... ...... ......
........ ......
...... ......
...... ...
µ ........
...... ..............
..............
.........
µ ........
......
......
........ ..
...... ...
...... ...
...... ... .......... ......... ...... ....
...... ... ..... ............ ...... ...
........ .... ........ ........ ........... . ........ ........
.......... .
......
......
........
......
........ ........... µ ...... ..
........
µ
...... ...... ...... ......

smallest, smaller, larger, largest potential energy.

(2.1.4)

As a consequence, there is a torque τ on the dipole exerted by the magnetic

field,

τ =µ×B, (2.1.5)

that tends to turn the dipole parallel to B. But since the intrinsic angular
momentum, the spin, of the atom is proportional to µ, and the rate of
change of the angular momentum is just the torque, we have
d
µ∝µ×B, (2.1.6)
dt
which is to say that the dipole moment µ precesses around the direction of
B, whereby the value of Emagn remains unchanged,
d dµ dB
Emagn = − ·B −µ· ∝ (µ × B) · B = 0 , (2.1.7)
dt dt dt
|{z}
=0
pictorially:

B
.......
......
......
........
......
......
......
......
........ .......
.......... ..............
...... ........
µ
........ (2.1.8)

In a homogeneous magnetic field, this is all that would be happening, but

the field of the Stern–Gerlach magnet is inhomogeneous: its strength de-
 Stern–Gerlach experiment 11

pends on position, mainly growing with increasing z. Therefore, the mag-

netic energy is position dependent,

Emagn (r ) = −µ · B(r ) , (2.1.9)

and that gives rise to a force F on the atom, equal to the negative gradient
of this magnetic energy,


F = −∇Emagn = ∇ µ · B(r ) . (2.1.10)

For µ · B > 0, the force is toward the region of stronger B field and for
µ · B < 0, it is toward the region of weaker field. Thus,

B
........
B
.......
B
........
B
........
B
........
...... ...... ...... ...... ......
...... ...... ...... ...... ......
...... .
........ .......... µ ......
...... ...............
.......
µ ......
......
......
........
...... .
........ ....
.......... ..... ..................... .......... .......... .......... .....
...... ...
........ ....
........
.......
...........................................
........
µ ...........
........ ..........
...... ..
........ ....
...... ........... ...... ..........
...... ...
..........
......
........
......
........
...... ........ ........ µ ........ µ
...... ........ ...... ......
.... .... .. .... ....

force upwards no force force downwards (2.1.11)

with the strength of the force proportional to the cosine of the angle between
µ and B because
B
.......
....... .
...... .. ... ... ..
....
........
θ ....
...
µ · B = µ B cos(θ) ......
........
...
..
(2.1.12)
...... ....
........ . .....
.
.
......
µ
.......... ..............
.................
.....

of course.
Now, the atoms emerging from the oven are completely unbiased in their
magnetic properties; there is nothing that would prefer one orientation of
µ and discriminate against others. All orientations are equally likely which
is to say that they will occur with equal frequency. Thus, some atoms
will experience a strong force upwards and others a weaker one, yet others
experience forces pulling downwards with a variety of strengths. Clearly,
then, we expect the beam of atoms to be spread out over the screen:
...
... .................................................................................................. .................................
... ..... . ... ... ..
...
... .............................................. beam of .. .. .. ....
... ....
...
...
...
...................................................................................................
........................................................... silver atoms ...
..
...
.. Ag
..
..
................................
....
.
...
collimating oven
screen magnet apertures
(2.1.13)
12 Kinematics: How Quantum Systems are Described

But this is not what is observed in such an experiment and was observed
by Stern and Gerlach in 1922. Rather, one finds just two spots:

...
... ................................................................................................... ................................
... ...... ... ... ... .
.. ....
...
...
...
.............................................. beam of ... ... .
....
...
...
...
....................................................................................................
......................................................... silver atoms ...
..
...
.. Ag
..
..
................................
....
.
...
collimating oven
screen magnet apertures
(2.1.14)
It is as if the atoms were prealigned with the magnetic field, some having
the dipole moment parallel and some having it antiparallel to B. But, of
course, there is no such prealignment, nothing prepares the atoms for this
particular geometry of the magnetic field. For, just as well, we could have
chosen the dominant field component in the x direction. Then, the splitting
into two would be along x, perpendicular to z, and the situation would be
as if the atoms were prealigned in the x direction. Clearly, the assumption
of prophetic prealignment is ludicrous.
Rather, we have to accept that the classical prediction of a spread-out
beam is inconsistent with the experimental observation. Classical physics
fails here, it cannot account for the outcome of the Stern–Gerlach experi-
ment.
Since there is nothing in the preparation of the beam that could possibly
bias the atoms toward a particular direction, we expect correctly that half of
the atoms are deflected up and half are deflected down. But an individual
atom is not split into two, an individual atom is either deflected up or
deflected down. And this happens in the perfectly probabilistic manner
discussed above. There is no possibility of predicting the fate of the next
atom if we think of performing the experiment in a one-atom-at-a-time
fashion.

2.2 Successive Stern–Gerlach measurements

Let us put a label on the atoms: We speak of a +atom when it is deflected

up (region z > 0) and of a −atom when it is deflected down (region z < 0).
In view of what we just noted, namely that we cannot possibly predict if
an atom will be deflected up or down, it may not be possible to attach
such labels. But, in fact, there is a well-defined sense to it. Consider atoms
that have been deflected up by the first Stern–Gerlach magnet and are then
passed through the second one:
Another random document with
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Street would either drift into his arms or have ‘to step down and
out’—to abdicate the crown she has worn so long.” Vreeland
lumbered along, building up fanciful solutions of the mystery.
In the now almost incessant “duty service” near his beautiful fiancée,
Vreeland a hundred times endeavored to trace back James
Garston’s early life. But the blue-eyed Nixie who was soon to be his
wife only laughed merrily.
“Pray remember, sir, that Senator Garston is my guardian. After my
dear father’s death, my mother went abroad, and I was educated in
the ‘Sacré Cœur’ Convent at Brussels. Her death left me alone in the
world.
“‘Uncle James’ had been almost forgotten by me in the thirteen years
which we passed in Paris and Brussels, and as I left the West a
mere child, all my memories are the vanishing dreams of childhood.
All his social past is a sealed book to me.”
Vreeland was fain to be content, as the lovely ingenue concluded:
“All I know is that he has always managed my affairs, and that his
personal history is linked with the development of the whole region
west of the Rockies. Why, you should know his history from your
own Western wanderings.”
“Was he ever married?” timidly hazarded Vreeland. But, the young
society queen only laughed back.
“Ask him! And then ponder now the possibility of another marriage.
You are now, sir, to take me driving. The only marriage which
concerns you, is a joint affair.”
That afternoon, as they drove through the park under the
chaperonage of the amiable Mrs. Volney McMorris, Vreeland
unsuccessfully endeavored to allay his recent dissatisfaction at the
absence of any womanly background for the highly polished
“Western diamond,” which he was soon to win and wear for life.
The story of the young heiress was smooth enough and faultlessly
delivered. Vreeland forebore to “pump” Mrs. McMorris, for he was
well aware that she was “all things to all men,” and her voluble
explanations would carry no real conviction.
“She helped Alida Hathorn on to the very verge of ruin,” he gloomily
recalled.
“There might have been a marriage between myself and Elaine but
for her vicious intermeddling.
“She took that Isle of Wight story in commission and spread it all
over New York, while working both sides for coin—a woman Judas!”
While he returned the salutations of Messrs. Merriman, Wiltshire and
Rutherstone on the social parade, he was vaguely reflecting on the
uselessness of his crime as regarded the stealing of the hidden
paper and the tapping of the private wires, as well as the mail frauds.
It now followed him like his own shadow, and the paper was a source
of countless nightmares. If it were only safe!
“All that is useless now,” he growled. And he suddenly saw that he
was left in the power of Doctor Hugo Alberg, of Justine and of
August Helms, the janitor.
“There will be no speculation in ‘Sugar’ for months; the market is
dead, pending the reorganization and New Jersey reincorporation.
“My strange employer is away. She will not be here for months; and
she has also taken alarm at the presence of Garston.
“The whole lot of them will probably operate in a blind pool now.
There will be nothing for me to gain, and everything to lose in
running any further risks.”
He saw with concern that Alberg greatly missed his wealthy and
generous patient, and a few significant hints had proved to him that
the German physician was now “money hungry.”
“There is Justine always to be pacified, and that brute, Helms, too;
he will surely want money.
“Once married, and a fixture here, I am ‘nailed to the cross’ for
torture by these people—if they should turn against me.
“Fear will control Doctor Alberg at the last,” reflected Vreeland. “He
has been guilty of half-poisoning his patient.
“Justine I can surely rely on as long as I keep her pacified, but, that
brute Helms is steadily increasing in his money demands. Some
night, when drunk, he may blow the whole thing abroad.” And he had
caught a glimpse of Helms and Bagley diving into a saloon together.
It frightened him.
It was true that Helms had found his way down several times to the
Elmleaf to get money, in a half-fawning and half-threatening bluster.
And on several occasions when Vreeland was absent, the grave-
faced valet, Bagley, had joined the janitor, and in some hours spent
over the cups of Gambrinus had gained pointers which had given the
lively roundsman, Dan Daly, some very valuable hints.
There was in his cup of “bittersweet,” however, one great consolation
to the successful Harold Vreeland, whom all men now envied.
The impending union with Katharine Norreys would found his
fortunes on a solid basis; he would have the absolute protection of
the great speculative Senator, and the reports of his detectives told
him that Hugh Conyers was simply buried in his journalistic duties. It
seemed to be a lull in the war, even the pickets had ceased firing.
There were no conferences with Judge Hiram Endicott, and nothing
to indicate any activity among Romaine Garland’s friends.
Only one side of the whole affair remained dark to Vreeland. Even
Justine Duprez could not tell him how or why Elaine Willoughby had
openly taken her unacknowledged daughter to her house for shelter.
It was as yet a mystery as to whether fear, intrigue or accident had
brought the lovely girl into the opened arms of her still beautiful
mother.
“All I know,” said Justine, in a conference arranged for this purpose
by her now indifferent fellow-conspirator, “all I could find out was,
that this green-eyed cripple, this little sycophant Irelandaise, who
now is my tyrant, brought the tall girl late one evening to the
‘Circassia.’”
“It was a strange visit,” murmured Justine, “for she brought no
luggage, and that girl never left my mistress’ presence for a moment,
till she went away with the two Conyers.
“I am certain that Madame had never seen this girl in the seven
years of my employ. There were no pictures, no relics of childhood—
nothing. And I was always on the lookout for the mystery of
Madame’s life—”
Justine demurely dropped her eyes.
“Bah!” she cried; “a woman with blood as cold as a fish! No life, no
love; she cares for nothing but money.
“Among all of them, not a lover! I thought she was fond of the dead
Mr. Hathorn once, but he was soon on a level with the others.”
Justine’s voice was duly scornful.
“And then her tears and frequent fits of sorrow! That was the record
the whole of seven years.
“The last thing I saw of her—a stolen glance—she had this girl’s
picture in her hand, and was weeping over it.
“If she is a child of hers, she is probably a child of shame. She now
fears the exposure, and has gone abroad to hide the girl away
forever. Trust to Justine’s experience! I know these women saints.
They always have nibbled at le fruit defendu—hypocrites!”
Mr. Harold Vreeland fancied that he saw light at last. “I believe that I
can observe Senator Garston’s game. He would use this hidden fact
to force Elaine Willoughby into his arms. By Jove! she does fear him!
Perhaps Justine is right.
“And so, when I am married to Katharine, and Garston is free of all
social claims, if he alone knows her secret, it may be buried forever
in her marriage with him.
“To bring the proper pressure to bear, he must have the girl first. And
he would not be too good to bribe the girl with a fancied inheritance.
Once that the child is under his influence, Elaine’s proud heart must
either bend or break.
“For he will win his way to her side, even across the fires of Alynton’s
hate or the social ruin of Elaine’s good name.” Vreeland already
knew the iron will of the man who was driving ahead with
recklessness in the chase.
And so, armed with the deadly secret of the enormously powerful
cabal, the stolen document, Vreeland now knew that if brought to
bay, Elaine would perhaps be sacrificed by the secret syndicate,
despised by the undeceived Alynton, and then, with the secret of her
early life in Garston’s possession, be utterly at his mercy. “Yes, she
is in the toils,” he muttered. “There is no escape for her.”
It was at the wish of Senator James Garston, now lavishly liberal in
his preparations for his ward’s wedding, that the bridal was
postponed to the first days of June.
“All is going on well, Harold,” said Garston. “We have worked into a
thorough accord with all her representatives.
“And you will not find love-making with Katharine Norreys an irksome
task. I wish only to wait till I learn that Elaine Willoughby has landed
at Brindisi.
“Somewhere on the Continent she will surely meet this girl. I shall
have instant reports from my detectives. For so far, we have found
out Elaine’s route, but, the girl is still hidden.
“I wish you to go away at once on your wedding tour, and then to
keep Mrs. Willoughby in sight—within touch. I only want to meet the
mother and daughter face to face—only once. I will have my innings
then, and finish the whole matter in short order.” His face was
merciless now.
“Now, you will be no object of suspicion on your wedding tour; such a
happy voyage always explains itself,” he sardonically smiled. “The
moment that I am cabled for, I shall depart incognito. My work will be
quickly done when I find this sly woman and her child together. The
whole world is not wide enough to hide that child from me.” And
Vreeland drifted daily under Garston’s strong control; he was floating
with the tide, drunken with all his successes.
The days drifted along in all the preoccupation of daily business and
the growing bustle of the impending wedding.
Harold Vreeland was most agreeably surprised in the later days of
May by a cordial letter from Mrs. Willoughby, posted at Port Said.
Her congratulations upon his impending marriage were coupled with
her carte blanche as to leave of absence from the firm, and the
significant direction to leave Bagley in charge at the Elmleaf.
“We shall have business uses for the apartment during the winter,
and Miss Kelly will give Bagley all his orders and attend to the
accounts. I have directed Judge Endicott to present in my name to
your wife a proper reminder of the esteem which I have for her.”
The notification three days before the wedding, through Noel
Endicott, that Mrs. Willoughby had placed a year’s salary at his
personal disposal on the books of the firm, as an extra bonus,
carried away the last vestige of Vreeland’s haunting fears.
Nothing remained of the awkward episode of the inquiry as to the
stolen document, and Vreeland had already settled with Doctor
Alberg, and Helms with an affected liberality, for his absence.
Now socially entirely in the hands of Messrs. Wiltshire, Merriman and
Rutherstone, his three groomsmen, and having seen the resplendent
Mrs. Volney McMorris rally many beautiful Ishmaelites, married and
single, around his bride, Vreeland was moved forward to the altar on
the golden flood of Senator Garston’s splendidly liberal preliminary
entertaining.
The Western millionaire was touching up every cloud hanging over
Katharine VanDyke Norreys’ social haziness with a golden lining.
There remained but two things for the happy groom to do now.
The one was to have a last interview with Justine, who was now
reduced to a calm subserviency to the orders of the young “Private
Secretary,” and the other to effect a safe deposit in some satisfactory
place of the stolen document and its tell-tale copy.
He had decided to be liberal with Justine in money matters, and to
entrust her in his three months’ absence with the watching of Helms,
the janitor, and the disgruntled German doctor.
A famous plan suggested itself! Justine should feed out to these men
money, in his name, during his absence.
“And that, with the hope of more, will keep them true to me, as
rascals go, till I return.” He had once decided to dismantle the secret
connections with Mrs. Willoughby’s telegraph and telephone. It was
the subject of a long, introspective reverie.
But reflection had told him of a possible mistake. And perhaps in his
absence, Justine might glean from the detained correspondence
delivered at the “Circassia,” some facts to guide both Senator
Garston and himself. Yes, the “underground railroad” should not be
disturbed. Its existence was as yet concealed from all his enemies.
The use in the next winter of the “Elmleaf” rooms for a concealed
headquarters of speculation caused him to leave the wires in
position. “It might excite these people’s suspicions. I must appear to
trust them,” he decided, “and Garston may even make a million over
the private tips I can give him if I am up to their game.”
Suddenly it occurred to him that his own marriage might change the
situation, and yet, there were Elaine Willoughby’s recent orders.
“She means probably to hide her child, and then come back and be
Queen of the Street again,” he smiled. “The ruling passion. She has
the speculative mania still.” For it was clear to him now that the
presence of mother and daughter together in New York City was an
unnecessary risk.
And so, even on the threshold of his marriage Harold Vreeland
feared to trust his bride with the secret of the stolen document. They
were to live at the Hotel Savoy on their return, “so as to be near
Uncle James, at the Plaza.”
With a moral cowardice which he could not explain, Vreeland had as
yet declined to face the burning question of the stolen document.
The copy he had always carried secreted within the waistcoat lining
of his traveling suit. “I can easily leave that over in Europe,” he
murmured. “The original. Where shall I hide it?” He was long in the
dark.
But it was by a devilish impulse, aided by accident, that he found a
place in Justine Duprez’s rooms on South Fifth Avenue to safely hide
the dangerous original.
One of the plates of a door framing had sprung partly loose. A
sudden idea seized him. Her rooms were the safest place for many
reasons.
To gain time for preparation, he sent the old hag away on an errand.
Sealed in a cloth envelope, the paper was soon hidden behind the
upper framing plate, and with a hammer, covered with his kid gloves,
he drove the half-dozen old, rusted nails tightly home. And he gazed
in triumph at the neat device.
“They will of course think that she stole it, should it ever be found,”
he mused triumphantly, as he lit a Henry Clay and gloated over his
cunning.
“If the house should burn I am safe. In every way it would go up in
flames. If I should die, then it makes no difference to me what
happens. If she is caught—this would be damning evidence only
against her.
“And I would never dare to trust myself with either Garston or my
wife, and be found out in the custody of that document.
“Accidents will happen; I might fall ill, and now no matter what
befalls, it never can be traced to me.”
He grinned with joy as he contemplated depositing the copy abroad,
under an assumed name.
“It will there be safe from all American legal process, and the original
is here where I can use it if needed, and as it is, it can never be
traced to me.”
He carefully examined the exterior of the row of solid brick
tenements. They were good for a life of fifty years.
As he walked away, when he had “finished his letters,” and left a last
greeting for Justine, he stood upon the heights of an impregnable
position.
“It was a stroke of genius, that last idea of mine!” he gaily cried, as
his eye rested on an old woman who had just descended the stair.
He knew not the burden of her eager soul. She carried his fate!
Once around the corner, that old woman scuttered away to find
roundsman Dan Daly, for the peep-hole had covered a keenly-
glittering eye, even after Justine had left her sighing lover to his “last
bachelor letters.” And thus the hiding-place was known to more than
one.
But Vreeland hastened away in a triumphant glow of satisfaction.
The splendors of the Grace Church wedding, the gilded festivity of
the Waldorf wedding dinner, and all the countless preoccupations of
the impending voyage busied Harold Vreeland’s excited mind for
three days.
There were hundreds of valuable wedding presents to deposit in
safety, for society had showered gifts upon the successful interloper
with its hard-hearted, hollow flattery of success. It had been a
“society event,” and his face, with that of the beautiful bride, had
ornamented several “up-to-date” journals.
The flower-decked bridal staterooms of the “Campania” had received
Vreeland’s party, and Messrs. Rutherstone, Merriman and Wiltshire
were joining the bride and bridesmaids in the parting “loving cup,”
the table was covered with journals filled with the usual “glowing
accounts” and piled up high with congratulatory letters and
telegrams, when “Uncle James” drew the complacent bridegroom
aside.
In a private nook, he turned a scowling face to the happy Vreeland.
A yellow telegraph envelope fluttered from his hand to the desk as
he read again these disquieting words:
“She has telegraphed for a cabin on the ‘Normandie,’ and is coming
home alone. Took a special train from Vienna to Havre. All traces of
girl lost.”
“Vreeland,” growled the maddened man, “some one has betrayed
us. Wait at the Hotel Cecil, London, for my cipher orders.
“That woman is a devil in artfulness, and it is a fight to the death
now.”
Ten minutes later, the “Campania” was plowing down the beautiful
bay.
 CHAPTER XIV.

FOR THE CHILD’S SAKE!

The crowding passengers lounging on the decks of the “Campania”

and “Normandie” idly watched the fleeting waves torn up by the
ocean racers as they swept by each other in mid-ocean four days
later, but there were strangely agitated hearts, too, on the passing
steamers, when the signal flags were broken out.
For, the secret enemies now swept past each other at the distance of
a few furlongs.
“What the devil can the real motive of her quick return be?” angrily
mused bridegroom Vreeland, as he called up again Senator
Garston’s baffled fury on learning that for all his goading on, his
detectives had failed to locate the missing Romaine Garland.
He led his beautiful bride back to her room, and then left her to the
enjoyment of “Les Denis-Vierges,” while he eyed the fast-receding
“Normandie.”
“Another big deal in ‘Sugar,’” he suddenly thought, and he felt
himself perhaps hoodwinked by both Senators and the handsome
woman who had so artfully led him on to his fate. “It may be that they
all are fooling me; I may have been merely jockeyed away.
Mrs. Willoughby can work the ‘off side’ of her deals alone from the
‘Elmleaf,’ and the regular transactions will go on as usual through
our firm, really Alynton & Willoughby. Or, she may have picked up
another protégé. God only knows what a woman may do.
“They all have their secrets, by Jove! Senator Garston or this cool
devil, Hugh Conyers, may now turn up as the secret broker in my
place.”
It suddenly occurred to him that the powerful Western millionaire
might really be the favored lover, and Alynton, after all, only the dupe
of a growing passion. “I am powerless to go further now,” he
groaned, as he gazed at the rooms where his lovely and exacting
bride was “squeezing the orange of life” to its last drop. He had
found out, even now, that there were thorns upon his rosebud.
He was not yet entirely satisfied with the status of husband so
recently assumed. Still affecting all the delicacy of the lover, he had,
however, quite practically approached the subject of Katharine
Norreys’ investments “in the hands of Uncle James.”
And he soon found out that the exquisite form of his dazzling blonde
wife hid a resolute and undaunted spirit, an unruffled temper, and an
easy, natural defiance of all marital control. “Where did she get her
experience of life?” mused the startled bridegroom.
“You must go over all these tiresome matters, Harold, with Uncle
James, on our return,” the overwearied, fashionable bride answered.
“I have never entered into any details with him, and I supposed, of
course, that you and he had covered all this ground. I have only
asked him for money as I needed it since my return, and he has
always sent me his checks. It is for you, both business men, to
regulate such matters.” And she cast her eyes down again on her
entrancing book.
“Then you have no permanent bank account of your own?” moodily
demanded Vreeland.
“Why should I have one?” innocently replied Mrs. Katharine
Vreeland, “when Uncle James has always paid the bills and
furnished me all that I ask? I have never asked him for any formal
accounting.” Harold Vreeland was secretly nettled at her easy
carelessness.
“And if he were to die, if anything happened, you would then know
nothing of your own affairs,” said the dissatisfied husband.
“No more than I know now of yours, my dear,” calmly answered
Katharine, settling herself deeper in her cushions. “Uncle James
simply told me that you were a very rich man, and of course, I took
his word. I have not asked you to inventory your own possessions.”
She was turning an unusually interesting leaf as Vreeland walked out
of the cabin in a suppressed rage.
“We are both at sea, it appears,” was his disquieting thought, and
again the remembrances of that slender family tree of his lovely wife
annoyed him. It seemed to begin and end in the graves of the dead
parents, who were only gruesome shadows.
“I will go over this whole ugly matter with Garston at once, just as
soon as I see him,” was Vreeland’s mental decision. “Katharine is
either a child-wife of the Dora order, or else far deeper than the sea
that we are skimming over now.”
It came to him cogently that he had taken her “on trust” largely, and
that a current of life’s mysterious undertow had swept him along into
Senator Garston’s power. There was no going back, however.
“It is too late to hesitate now,” he mused, as he uneasily gazed back
toward America, well knowing that some giant game might be played
in his absence.
In the deal there would be no cards for him, however the luck might
turn. And there remained but one golden gleam in the gray clouds.
He had that paper with which to dominate Mrs. Willoughby. But, it
was a dangerous weapon; it might prove a boomerang.
“Justine Duprez stands between me and all harm. That was a
master-stroke! And so I can cut into the game as I wish, on my
return. The very first thing I shall do will be to get Katharine’s fortune
out of Garston’s control. He shall face the music. And yet, I can
afford no quarrel until that is all safe.”
In the month which followed this vain attempt at probing the financial
resources of the wife of his bosom, Mr. Harold Vreeland, at the Hotel
Cecil, London, found the beautiful Katharine’s money-spending
power to be something abnormal.
There was a rapid exchange of letters and cable ciphers between
Garston and the young broker spy, but the husband was never
enlightened as to the nature of the frequent telegrams and letters
passing between “Uncle James” and his ward.
It vastly annoyed him—this continued private commerce of ideas.
The questions of the husband were frankly enough met. “I have
always been accustomed to do exactly as I pleased,” the lady
remarked, with a bright, hard smile. Vreeland’s face hardened.
“And now, that you are married?” demanded Vreeland, angrily.
“I shall continue to do so, Harold,” his wife sweetly replied.
“If you would have me lead a Darby and Joan life, please to
remember that sort of thing went out with the ‘Rollo books’ and ‘Faith
Gartney’s Girlhood!’”
Mr. Harold Vreeland, the husband of a few weeks, soon realized that
while he was doing the clubs and music halls of London, his
resplendent wife had quietly gathered up quite a coterie of admiring
American men, generally conversationally lumped as “the Western
gang.”
These ardent cavaliers seemed to be all wifeless, and, strangely
enough too, without mothers or sisters. “‘Uncle James’ friends,” was
Mrs. Vreeland’s saving clause, when at last her angered husband
remonstrated at their increasing circle. He was beginning to be
agnostic as to her guilelessness.
And on their removal to Paris, where certain of these “friends” soon
after appeared, Katharine Vreeland bravely continued “to do as she
pleased,” and her now bitter husband partook himself to sparkling
wine and “the sights of Paris.”
He was driven along from day to day, for he had no reliable news
from the seat of war. He realized that he was alone in the world and
without one trusty friend. His wife was only a bright enigma.
“The lone-hand game has its disadvantages, I perceive,” was his
bitter secret comment, as he tired of the Hotel Continental—the
perfunctory drives in the Bois, the open summer amusements—and
visibly fretted at his wife’s endless shopping.
Even with Garston’s substantial bribe, he began to see that
Mrs. Katharine Vreeland’s “separate estate” was to become a very
“burning question”—in the near future.
She was a “money-eater” of the first class.
“Let us get back to New York,” he moodily said after one of a series
of wordy recriminations. “With all my heart,” placidly retorted the
“beautiful Mrs. Vreeland,” for she had now acquired that professional
designation in the journals and the cant phrases of the uneasy
floating “American circle” of Parisian high life.
Harold Vreeland was now mentally tired of the by-play of marital
fencing. He realized, in all their varied encounters, that she was
calmly superior at every clash.
Bright, bold and ready, she “came back at him” every time, and he
was quietly cornered by that flashing rapier, her tongue. What man
can prevail against that two-edged sword?
But one resource was left. He had run the gamut of sullenness,
persuasion, a bit of bullying, some pleading and even a touch of lofty
tenderness, but her point was carried high, her wrist easy, and her
blade opposed to him at every turn.
He could not avouch himself a mere fortune-hunter, and so, he took
refuge in an ominous and expectant silence. “I will get hold of her
estate, and then curb her extravagance,” he brooded.
His worst fears as to the “underground railroad” communications of
the “uncle” and ward were realized when he finally received a
positive request of Senator Garston for an immediate return.
“I want you at once. I wish to lay out our plans for the winter. And if I
am to trap this underhanded, intrigant Mrs. Willoughby, I must finish
my work before the opening of the session of Congress, and our
committees will begin soon to meet. Come on, with no delay.” The
words were almost mandatory, and they annoyed him strangely.
Returning from his banker’s with this letter, he found his wife’s two
maids busied in packing up all her effects. He was startled, but took
the defensive.
Something impelled him to keep the news to himself. “I am tired of
Paris,” shortly said his wife, as she recognized the drifting odor of an
absinthe frappée. “We can just catch the Gascogne, and so, I have
ordered all my bills sent in. You must attend to them, and then,
secure our passage.”
“Let me know their probable amount,” gruffly answered the husband,
as he departed for the steamer office. He was beginning to feel a
master hand now.
“She had the news before I received it,” he growled. “And I swear I
will make it my pleasing duty to bring ‘Uncle James’ to book, on my
return. I will get her property into my hands, and control it.
“She would beggar even a Vanderbilt, an Astor or a Goelet, if given a
free hand.” Vreeland aspired to the conquest of this defiant beauty in
rebellion.
It so happened that the game as laid out by “Uncle James” suited all
three; but, while he thirsted to see Justine Duprez once more and to
confer with Doctor Alberg, Vreeland was really anxious at heart to re-
enter the comparative protection of his Wall Street office.
“By Jove! I am at least between the lines there,” he mused. “I can
frighten both sides, and so, guard myself.”
It was on the Gascogne that he watched Katharine VanDyke Norreys
as the Count de Millefleurs (a young attaché going over on his first
appointment) bent over her steamer chair.
“This marriage has only hung a millstone around my neck,” he
resentfully brooded. “And I wonder if I was only brought in to relieve
‘Uncle James.’” It was a mean suspicion, but it clung closely to him.
He was now the prey of ugly thoughts, and fleeting fears disturbed
“the sleep of Richard.”
There were times when he feared for the safety of the document so
deftly hidden away. The copy had been artfully deposited (under
receipt) in a Belgian branch bank in Paris, under an assumed name,
and the banker’s receipt was now sewed in his waistcoat. “Thank
God! That is all safe!” he sighed.
He little reflected that one day, laughing over the “Agony Column” of
the London Times, his eye had paused at the name “Martha Wilmot.”
Some trace of familiarity, some fleeting memory caused him to read
the few lines.
“Handsome reward and the most complete immunity guaranteed.
Greatly to your advantage. Communicate in any way.”
The signature, “New York,” followed by an address, closed the
expensively placed announcement.
“Some relic of man’s folly and woman’s frailty!” he laughed. “The old,
old game goes on forever.”
And yet, he little dreamed that Hugh Conyers and handsome Dan
Daly were now the right and left hand men of Judge Hiram Endicott,
who was engaged in some very interesting metropolitan researches.
In far-away New York, there was the veiled duel of two fearless
intellects going on, even in the summer days, when the town was
empty.
Mrs. Elaine Willoughby was again the radiant mistress of Lakemere,
although she spent a portion of her time in town at the Circassia.
There was now a strange glow of happiness shining on the splendid
woman’s face, and the services of Doctor Hugo Alberg were
permanently discontinued.
It was impossible for the revengeful Teuton to learn the reason from
Justine Duprez. The courteous terms of Mrs. Elaine Willoughby’s
letter, inclosing a check for his annual account, were too
unmistakable to be misconstrued even by the dense German. It was
a congé not to be misunderstood. His Waterloo!
And, in a roundabout way he had also learned that Judge Endicott
and his nephew made up the whole social circle at Lakemere, with
Hugh Conyers as a permanent summer guest.
Hugo Alberg had sworn an oath that Harold Vreeland should recoup
him for the loss of his star patient. He now only awaited the return of
his proposed victim “to levy the Rhine dues.”
A visit to the South Fifth Avenue rooms where Justine had
vicariously entertained him in the old days, gave him the news, by
the mouth of the old denizen, that “la pauvre Justine” was tied down
at Lakemere.
“Some one have robbed ze lady last year, and now Justine is ze
prissonaire to watch ze garderobe all ze while; and only ze travail
and ze solitude! V’la tout! Pauvre Justine! Elle vent bien partir pour la
France.” The doctor hungrily awaited Vreeland’s return for a bleeding
process.
No one but the Frenchwoman herself knew how tightly the coils were
wound around her. Shaking in fear, left without the secret protection
of her traitorous tempter, Vreeland, she dared not try to break away
from Lakemere, for she now feared the gleaming wrist-irons.
To run away would be only to invite an instant arrest, and she panted
for the time of the winter’s gaieties. She would have a chance
perhaps then to slip away unknown.
Her plan was already formulated. A simulated illness, a last
“bleeding” of Harold Vreeland, and then, a return to dear Paris. Once
again on French soil, she would be safe. For Paris would soon
swallow her up. The vicious child would be hidden in the mighty
bosom of the Mother of all Wickedness.
“Ah! he shall pay,” she muttered, as her velvety eyes rested, lit up
with a strange fire, on the beautiful woman whose iron hand now
held her so firmly. “She and the Kelly—how I could drive a knife into
their hearts!” she hissed.
“But Justine must wait; gold first, gold—and then la liberté shall be
mine.”
When “Harold Vreeland and wife” were duly domiciled at the Hotel
Savoy, he was not astonished at the proximity of “Uncle James” at
the Plaza Hotel; but, even on the pier, when the Senator met them,
Vreeland noted the ravages of some overmastering passion in the
strong man’s face.
The eyes were brilliant and unsteady, there was a foreign irritability
in his abrupt manner, and Vreeland’s attempts at a tête-à-tête were
only met with a sharp command “to get inside his old business lines”
as soon as he could; and Vreeland, humbled, kept his temper.
“I must have you back in the traces again,” sharply cried Garston.
“And, I would get up to Lakemere to-night if I were you. See
Mrs. Willoughby, and get safe on the old basis.
“The stock market is humming, and I will soon have need of you in
Wall Street. I trust no one there but you.”
Harold Vreeland hastened away to the office, and found the same
unimpassioned greeting which had always characterized Horton
Wyman. And in the rush, they were now glad to have his aid in their
increasing affairs.
“You will go, of course, up to Lakemere to-night?” said Noel Endicott.
“I have already telegraphed your arrival to Mrs. Willoughby.”
In a stolen detour, Vreeland arranged for an early morning interview
with Doctor Alberg, and then he passed the “Circassia” on his way to
the train after dinner.
The flat demand of janitor Helms for “backsheesh” keenly angered a
man already enraged by “Uncle James’” quiet appropriation of the
first evening with that hawk-eyed free-lance of marital beauty,
Mrs. Katharine Vreeland, “whose remarkable loveliness had created
such a London and Paris sensation.”
“I will soon cut the Gordian knot between these two,” growled
Vreeland, as he descended from the waiting carriage at Lakemere. “I
will either have my wife and her property to myself, or else ‘Uncle
James’ will show his hand, to the very last card.” He was beginning
to be reckless in a blind jealousy.
The welcome of Mrs. Elaine Willoughby to her returned protégé was
merely a complacently cordial one, and yet, in half an hour, Vreeland
bore away the assurance of lulled suspicions and his continued
business relation.
“I shall soon call upon Mrs. Vreeland and assure myself by
inspection of her married happiness,” was the last greeting of the
hostess, whose other guests, if any, were invisible.
“I will send for you to the ‘Circassia’ next week, and give you my
general directions for some business which is impending.”
“That woman has found a new happiness. Her life is now complete,”
was the keen-eyed schemer’s comment as he sauntered away
toward the park gates, where the impatient horses awaited his
return.
A flitting form in the dusky garden walks led him toward the “lovers’
labyrinth,” behind the unforgotten summer house. His one friend was
on watch.
“Justine!” he gasped, and he hastened to stealthily join her in the
deepened gloom of the trees. A new fear smote upon his startled
nerves.
There was the velvet-eyed Frenchwoman in waiting, and her
passionate words, her panting breast and gleaming eyes told him of
an unbroken tie, the bond of their guilty past.