Timeline for Spin state of electron after measurement
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 22, 2014 at 0:12 | vote | accept | NeutronStar | ||
| Jan 21, 2014 at 0:12 | comment | added | joshphysics | @Joshua Precisely. | |
| Jan 21, 2014 at 0:08 | comment | added | NeutronStar | So specifically whenever I measure energy (the eigenvalue value of the Hamiltonian) the subsequent state is an eigenstate of the Hamiltonian and all subsequent measures of energy will give the same value as the first measurement, even if the initial state before measurement was a superposition of many eigenstates? | |
| Jan 21, 2014 at 0:04 | comment | added | joshphysics | @Joshua The first sentence is right; when you make a measurement on the system, it collapses to an eigenstate, but not just any old eigenstate. It collapses to an eigenstate of the observable being measured. If that observable happens to be something other than the Hamiltonian, then the state post-measurement may not be an eigenstate of the Hamiltonian. | |
| Jan 20, 2014 at 23:57 | comment | added | NeutronStar | I thought whenever we measured the state of a system it would collapse to an eigenstate of the Hamiltonian. Based on what you said, all measurements will force a system to indefinitely stay in one of the Hamiltonian's eigenstates. | |
| Jan 20, 2014 at 23:50 | comment | added | joshphysics | @Joshua It depends on the Hamiltonian of the system. If the state immediately after the measurement is an eigenstate of the Hamiltonian, then it will stay in the projected state. Otherwise, it will not. | |
| Jan 20, 2014 at 23:40 | comment | added | NeutronStar | The postulate you quoted said that "the state of the system immediately after the measurement" is the projection you mentioned. What about at some time t after the measurement? Do the particles stay in the projected state indefinitely? | |
| Jan 20, 2014 at 23:31 | history | answered | joshphysics | CC BY-SA 3.0 |