Timeline for Can someone provide a physical -- not mathematical -- intuition for the phase in a quantum wavefunction?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
6 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 9, 2020 at 10:45 | comment | added | Tfovid | @QuantumFumbler The first part of this video touches on the notion of quantum phase and its relation to the complexity of the wave function: [youtube.com/watch?v=V5kgruUjVBs] . The visualization of minute 4:21 was somewhat of an aha-moment for me as well. | |
| Jul 23, 2020 at 15:47 | comment | added | QuantumFumbler | I think you've hit on what I suspect is my main stumbling block: I keep picturing a classical wave, like a wave on a rope, and trying to map it to QM. But it sounds like QM waves, while having somethings in common with classical waves, are just a different beast entirely. I'll have to take some time and dig into the M-Z interferometer a bit more, thanks for that reference. | |
| Jul 23, 2020 at 11:49 | comment | added | Tfovid | @benjimin I've added an edit above. (For the full derivation, you can find equations on how beam splitters work in most introductory quantum optics textbooks.) The takeaway is that only the relative phase is physically observable and can give rise to interference. The global phase, though obvious from classical mechanics, is irrelevant---and I'd dare to say, unknowable. | |
| Jul 23, 2020 at 11:47 | history | edited | Tfovid | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Additional hint as to the Mach-Zehnder interferometer, as request by one of the commenters.
|
| Jul 23, 2020 at 8:24 | comment | added | benjimin | Could you sketch out in more detail how to do (and how to read your interpretation from) that proposed exercise? | |
| Jul 22, 2020 at 12:06 | history | answered | Tfovid | CC BY-SA 4.0 |