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The mathematical formulation of quantum mechanics (QM) is built upon the concept of an operator. Physical pure states in quantum mechanics are represented as unit-norm vectors (probabilities are normalized to one) in a special complex Hilbert space. Time evolution in this vector space is given by the application of the evolution operator.
The momentum operator can be described as a symmetric (i.e. Hermitian), unbounded operator acting on a dense subspace of the quantum state space. If the operator acts on a (normalizable) quantum state then the operator is self-adjoint. In physics the term Hermitian often refers to both symmetric and self-adjoint operators. [7] [8]
Since the operator is linear, they are valid for any linear combination of plane waves, and so they can act on any wave function without affecting the properties of the wave function or operators. Hence this must be true for any wave function. It turns out to work even in relativistic quantum mechanics, such as the Klein–Gordon equation above.
Quantum mechanics is a difficult subject to teach due to its counterintuitive nature. [1] As the subject is now offered by advanced secondary schools, educators have applied scientific methodology to the process of teaching quantum mechanics, in order to identify common misconceptions and ways of improving students' understanding.
Since the angular momenta are quantum operators, they cannot be drawn as vectors like in classical mechanics. Nevertheless, it is common to depict them heuristically in this way. Depicted on the right is a set of states with quantum numbers ℓ = 2 {\displaystyle \ell =2} , and m ℓ = − 2 , − 1 , 0 , 1 , 2 {\displaystyle m_{\ell }=-2,-1,0 ...
Consider a single particle in one dimension. Unlike classical mechanics, in quantum mechanics a particle neither has a well-defined position nor a well-defined momentum. In the quantum formulation, the expectation values [5] play the role of the classical variables.
In quantum mechanics, the exchange operator ^, also known as permutation operator, [1] is a quantum mechanical operator that acts on states in Fock space. The exchange operator acts by switching the labels on any two identical particles described by the joint position quantum state | x 1 , x 2 {\displaystyle \left|x_{1},x_{2}\right\rangle } . [ 2 ]
In quantum mechanics, an antisymmetrizer (also known as an antisymmetrizing operator [1]) is a linear operator that makes a wave function of N identical fermions antisymmetric under the exchange of the coordinates of any pair of fermions.