diff --git a/src/5_operators_QM.mb b/src/5_operators_QM.mb index ffe28db549c637a0e5cde61768dca79d6581c5e4..1f25b42d40a45aaec2ba7b7400dcfc1f96e3c410 100644 --- a/src/5_operators_QM.mb +++ b/src/5_operators_QM.mb @@ -47,34 +47,23 @@ $$\hat{A}[c_1|\psi_1\rangle+c_2|\psi_2\rangle]=c_1\hat{A}|\psi_1\rangle+c_2\hat{ Linearity of operators has an important consequence. Recall that in the previous lecture we discussed that any state vector $|\psi\rangle can be expressed as a linear combination of a complete set of basis states $\{|\phi_i\rangle,i=1,2,3,...,n\}$ associated to this Hilbert space: $$|\psi\rangle=\sum_{i=1}^nc_i|\phi_i\rangle \, , \quad c_i = \braket{\phi_i}{\psi} \, ,$$ -where the values of the coefficients $c_i$ can be fixed thanks to -the orthogonality properties of the basis, $\braket{\phi_i}{\phi_j}=\delta_{ij} $. +where the values of the coefficients $c_i$ can be fixed thanks to the orthogonality properties of the basis, $\braket{\phi_i}{\phi_j}=\delta_{ij} $. -Then one can see that for linear operators - one has -$$ - \hat{A}|\psi\rangle= \hat{A}\sum_{i=1}^nc_i|\phi_i\rangle - = \sum_{i=1}^nc_i ( \hat{A}|\phi_i\rangle ) \, . +Then one can see that for linear operators one has +$$ \hat{A}|\psi\rangle= \hat{A}\sum_{i=1}^nc_i|\phi_i\rangle = \sum_{i=1}^nc_i ( \hat{A}|\phi_i\rangle ) \, . $$ This results tells us that if we know the effects of the operator $\hat{A}$ for each of the elements of the basis $|\phi_i\rangle$, we can easily determine its effects for a *general state vector} $|\psi\rangle$ belonging to the same Hilbert space. -Another important properties of operators can be stated - as follows. -% - If two operators $\hat{A}$ and $\hat{B}$ are such that - $$ - \hat{A}|\psi\rangle=\hat{B}|\psi\rangle - $$ - for all state vectors $|\psi\rangle$ belonging to the Hilbert - space of the system, then two operators must be identical'' - $$ - \hat{A}=\hat{B} \, . - $$ - Note that this is true only if the action of two operators - is identical for all elements of the Hilbert space. +Another important properties of operators can be stated as follows. If two operators $\hat{A}$ and $\hat{B}$ are such that +$$\hat{A}|\psi\rangle=\hat{B}|\psi\rangle $$ +for all state vectors $|\psi\rangle$ belonging to the Hilbert +space of the system, then two operators must be identical: +$$ \hat{A}=\hat{B} \, .$$ +Note that this is true only if the action of two operators +is identical for all elements of the Hilbert space. As in general vector spaces, in Hilbert spaces we also have the identity (or unit) and zero (or null)