Almost-periodic time observables for bound quantum systems

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Author(s)
Hall, Michael JW
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2008
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It is shown that a canonical time observable may be defined for any quantum system having a discrete set of energy eigenvalues, thus significantly generalizing the known case of time observables for periodic quantum systems (such as the harmonic oscillator). The general case requires the introduction of almost-periodic probability operator measures (POMs), which allow the expectation value of any almost-periodic function to be calculated. An entropic uncertainty relation for energy and time is obtained which generalizes the known uncertainty relation for periodic quantum systems. While non-periodic quantum systems ...
View more >It is shown that a canonical time observable may be defined for any quantum system having a discrete set of energy eigenvalues, thus significantly generalizing the known case of time observables for periodic quantum systems (such as the harmonic oscillator). The general case requires the introduction of almost-periodic probability operator measures (POMs), which allow the expectation value of any almost-periodic function to be calculated. An entropic uncertainty relation for energy and time is obtained which generalizes the known uncertainty relation for periodic quantum systems. While non-periodic quantum systems with discrete energy spectra, such as hydrogen atoms, typically make poor clocks that yield no more than 1 bit of time information, the anisotropic oscillator provides an interesting exception. More generally, a canonically conjugate observable may be defined for any Hermitian operator having a discrete spectrum.
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View more >It is shown that a canonical time observable may be defined for any quantum system having a discrete set of energy eigenvalues, thus significantly generalizing the known case of time observables for periodic quantum systems (such as the harmonic oscillator). The general case requires the introduction of almost-periodic probability operator measures (POMs), which allow the expectation value of any almost-periodic function to be calculated. An entropic uncertainty relation for energy and time is obtained which generalizes the known uncertainty relation for periodic quantum systems. While non-periodic quantum systems with discrete energy spectra, such as hydrogen atoms, typically make poor clocks that yield no more than 1 bit of time information, the anisotropic oscillator provides an interesting exception. More generally, a canonically conjugate observable may be defined for any Hermitian operator having a discrete spectrum.
View less >
Journal Title
Journal of Physics A
Volume
41
Issue
25
Copyright Statement
© 2008 Institute of Physics Publishing. This is the author-manuscript version of this paper. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher.Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version.
Subject
Mathematical sciences
Algebraic structures in mathematical physics
Physical sciences
Quantum information, computation and communication
Quantum physics not elsewhere classified