Propagator
In quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, the propagator is a function that specifies the probability amplitude for a particle to travel from one place to another in a given period of time, or to travel with a certain energy and momentum. In Feynman diagrams, which serve to calculate the rate of collisions in quantum field theory, virtual particles contribute their propagator to the rate of the scattering event described by the respective diagram. These may also be viewed as the inverse of the wave operator appropriate to the particle, and are, therefore, often called ''(causal) Green's functions'' (called "''causal''" to distinguish it from the elliptic Laplacian Green's function). Non-relativistic propagators In non-relativistic quantum mechanics, the propagator gives the probability amplitude for a particle to travel from one spatial point (x') at one time (t') to another spatial point (x) at a later time (t). Consider a system with Hamiltonian . The Green's function (fu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mehler Kernel
The Mehler kernel is a complex-valued function found to be the propagator of the quantum harmonic oscillator. Mehler's formula defined a function and showed, in modernized notation, that it can be expanded in terms of Hermite polynomials (.) based on weight function exp(−²) as :E(x,y) = \sum_^\infty \frac ~ \mathit_n(x)\mathit_n(y) ~. This result is useful, in modified form, in quantum physics, probability theory, and harmonic analysis. Physics version In physics, the fundamental solution, (Green's function), or propagator of the Hamiltonian for the quantum harmonic oscillator is called the Mehler kernel. It provides the fundamental solution---the most general solution to :\frac = \frac-x^2\varphi \equiv D_x \varphi ~. The orthonormal eigenfunctions of the operator are the Hermite functions, :\psi_n = \frac, with corresponding eigenvalues (2+1), furnishing particular solutions : \varphi_n(x, t)= e^ ~H_n(x) \exp(-x^2/2) ~. The general solution is then a linear comb ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Path Integral Formulation
The path integral formulation is a description in quantum mechanics that generalizes the action principle of classical mechanics. It replaces the classical notion of a single, unique classical trajectory for a system with a sum, or functional integral, over an infinity of quantum-mechanically possible trajectories to compute a quantum amplitude. This formulation has proven crucial to the subsequent development of theoretical physics, because manifest Lorentz covariance (time and space components of quantities enter equations in the same way) is easier to achieve than in the operator formalism of canonical quantization. Unlike previous methods, the path integral allows one to easily change coordinates between very different canonical descriptions of the same quantum system. Another advantage is that it is in practice easier to guess the correct form of the Lagrangian of a theory, which naturally enters the path integrals (for interactions of a certain type, these are ''coordinat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wave Packet
In physics, a wave packet (or wave train) is a short "burst" or "envelope" of localized wave action that travels as a unit. A wave packet can be analyzed into, or can be synthesized from, an infinite set of component sinusoidal waves of different wavenumbers, with phases and amplitudes such that they interfere constructively only over a small region of space, and destructively elsewhere. Each component wave function, and hence the wave packet, are solutions of a wave equation. Depending on the wave equation, the wave packet's profile may remain constant (no dispersion, see figure) or it may change (dispersion) while propagating. Quantum mechanics ascribes a special significance to the wave packet; it is interpreted as a probability amplitude, its norm squared describing the probability density that a particle or particles in a particular state will be measured to have a given position or momentum. The wave equation is in this case the Schrödinger equation, and through its ap ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Green's Function
In mathematics, a Green's function is the impulse response of an inhomogeneous linear differential operator defined on a domain with specified initial conditions or boundary conditions. This means that if \operatorname is the linear differential operator, then * the Green's function G is the solution of the equation \operatorname G = \delta, where \delta is Dirac's delta function; * the solution of the initial-value problem \operatorname y = f is the convolution (G \ast f). Through the superposition principle, given a linear ordinary differential equation (ODE), \operatorname y = f, one can first solve \operatorname G = \delta_s, for each , and realizing that, since the source is a sum of delta functions, the solution is a sum of Green's functions as well, by linearity of . Green's functions are named after the British mathematician George Green, who first developed the concept in the 1820s. In the modern study of linear partial differential equations, Green's functions are s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Duhamel's Principle
In mathematics, and more specifically in partial differential equations, Duhamel's principle is a general method for obtaining solutions to homogeneous differential equation, inhomogeneous linear evolution equations like the heat equation, wave equation, and vibrating plate equation. It is named after Jean-Marie Duhamel who first applied the principle to the inhomogeneous heat equation that models, for instance, the distribution of heat in a thin plate which is heated from beneath. For linear evolution equations without spatial dependency, such as a harmonic oscillator, Duhamel's principle reduces to the method of variation of parameters technique for solving linear inhomogeneous ordinary differential equations.Fritz John, "Partial Differential Equations', New York, Springer-Verlag, 1982, 4th ed., 0387906096 It is also an indispensable tool in the study of nonlinear partial differential equations such as the Navier–Stokes equations and nonlinear Schrödinger equation where one treat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Quantum Harmonic Oscillator
量子調和振動子 は、 古典調和振動子 の 量子力学 類似物です。任意の滑らかな ポテンシャル は通常、安定した 平衡点 の近くで 調和ポテンシャル として近似できるため、最も量子力学における重要なモデル系。さらに、これは正確な 解析解法が知られている数少ない量子力学系の1つである。 author=Griffiths, David J. , title=量子力学入門 , エディション=2nd , 出版社=プレンティス・ホール , 年=2004 , isbn=978-0-13-805326-0 , author-link=David Griffiths (物理学者) , URL アクセス = 登録 , url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontoel00grif_0 One-dimensional harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian and energy eigenstates 粒子の ハミルトニアン は次のとおりです。 \hat H = \frac + \frac k ^2 = \frac + \frac m \omega^2 ^2 \, , ここで、 は粒子の質量、 は力定数、\omega = \sqrt は 動子の [角周波数 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Green's Function (many-body Theory)
In many-body theory, the term Green's function (or Green function) is sometimes used interchangeably with correlation function, but refers specifically to correlators of field operators or creation and annihilation operators. The name comes from the Green's functions used to solve inhomogeneous differential equations, to which they are loosely related. (Specifically, only two-point 'Green's functions' in the case of a non-interacting system are Green's functions in the mathematical sense; the linear operator that they invert is the Hamiltonian operator, which in the non-interacting case is quadratic in the fields.) Spatially uniform case Basic definitions We consider a many-body theory with field operator (annihilation operator written in the position basis) \psi(\mathbf). The Heisenberg operators can be written in terms of Schrödinger operators as \psi(\mathbf,t) = e^ \psi(\mathbf) e^, and the creation operator is \bar\psi(\mathbf,t) = psi(\mathbf,t)\dagger, where K = H - ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Feynman Diagram
In theoretical physics, a Feynman diagram is a pictorial representation of the mathematical expressions describing the behavior and interaction of subatomic particles. The scheme is named after American physicist Richard Feynman, who introduced the diagrams in 1948. The interaction of subatomic particles can be complex and difficult to understand; Feynman diagrams give a simple visualization of what would otherwise be an arcane and abstract formula. According to David Kaiser, "Since the middle of the 20th century, theoretical physicists have increasingly turned to this tool to help them undertake critical calculations. Feynman diagrams have revolutionized nearly every aspect of theoretical physics." While the diagrams are applied primarily to quantum field theory, they can also be used in other fields, such as solid-state theory. Frank Wilczek wrote that the calculations that won him the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics "would have been literally unthinkable without Feynman diagra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lorentz-invariant
In relativistic physics, Lorentz symmetry or Lorentz invariance, named after the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz, is an equivalence of observation or observational symmetry due to special relativity implying that the laws of physics stay the same for all observers that are moving with respect to one another within an inertial frame. It has also been described as "the feature of nature that says experimental results are independent of the orientation or the boost velocity of the laboratory through space". Lorentz covariance, a related concept, is a property of the underlying spacetime manifold. Lorentz covariance has two distinct, but closely related meanings: # A physical quantity is said to be Lorentz covariant if it transforms under a given representation of the Lorentz group. According to the representation theory of the Lorentz group, these quantities are built out of scalars, four-vectors, four-tensors, and spinors. In particular, a Lorentz covariant scalar (e.g., the s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spacetime
In physics, spacetime is a mathematical model that combines the three dimensions of space and one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional manifold. Spacetime diagrams can be used to visualize relativistic effects, such as why different observers perceive differently where and when events occur. Until the 20th century, it was assumed that the three-dimensional geometry of the universe (its spatial expression in terms of coordinates, distances, and directions) was independent of one-dimensional time. The physicist Albert Einstein helped develop the idea of spacetime as part of his theory of relativity. Prior to his pioneering work, scientists had two separate theories to explain physical phenomena: Isaac Newton's laws of physics described the motion of massive objects, while James Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetic models explained the properties of light. However, in 1905, Einstein based a work on special relativity on two postulates: * The laws of physics are invariant ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wolfgang Pauli
Wolfgang Ernst Pauli (; ; 25 April 1900 – 15 December 1958) was an Austrian theoretical physicist and one of the pioneers of quantum physics. In 1945, after having been nominated by Albert Einstein, Pauli received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his "decisive contribution through his discovery of a new law of Nature, the exclusion principle or Pauli principle". The discovery involved spin theory, which is the basis of a theory of the structure of matter. Early years Pauli was born in Vienna to a chemist, Wolfgang Joseph Pauli (''né'' Wolf Pascheles, 1869–1955), and his wife, Bertha Camilla Schütz; his sister was Hertha Pauli, a writer and actress. Pauli's middle name was given in honor of his godfather, physicist Ernst Mach. Pauli's paternal grandparents were from prominent families of Prague; his great-grandfather was the publisher Wolf Pascheles. Pauli's mother, Bertha Schütz, was raised in her mother's Roman Catholic religion; Pauli was raised as a Roman Catholic, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Scalar Field
In mathematics and physics, a scalar field is a function (mathematics), function associating a single number to every point (geometry), point in a space (mathematics), space – possibly physical space. The scalar may either be a pure Scalar (mathematics), mathematical number (dimensionless) or a scalar (physics), scalar physical quantity (with unit of measurement, units). In a physical context, scalar fields are required to be independent of the choice of reference frame, meaning that any two observers using the same units will agree on the value of the scalar field at the same absolute point in space (or spacetime) regardless of their respective points of origin. Examples used in physics include the temperature distribution throughout space, the pressure distribution in a fluid, and spin-zero quantum fields, such as the Higgs field. These fields are the subject of scalar field theory. Definition Mathematically, a scalar field on a Region (mathematical analysis), region ''U ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |