Using a weight function for inner product/normalization

  • Context: Graduate 
  • Thread starter Thread starter kakarukeys
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Function Weight
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the implications of using a weight function for the inner product and normalization of wavefunctions in quantum mechanics. Participants explore how this affects the momentum operator and the relationship between wavefunctions under coordinate transformations.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants inquire about the form of the momentum operator when a weight function is applied to the inner product of wavefunctions.
  • One participant suggests that the weight function is related to the coordinate system, providing an example of spherical symmetry with a specific weight function.
  • Another participant discusses the implications of using weight functions in separable Hilbert spaces and how coordinate transformations affect operators and variables.
  • A participant raises a mathematical question regarding the uniqueness of transformations between wavefunctions related by a coordinate transformation, specifically questioning if a certain form of transformation is the only possibility.
  • It is noted that an alternative transformation involving a complex exponential function is also valid, indicating that there may be multiple ways to express the wavefunctions under the weight function framework.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that the weight function is connected to coordinate transformations, but there is no consensus on the uniqueness of the transformation form or the implications for the momentum operator.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include the dependence on specific coordinate systems and the assumptions about the weight function being positive. The discussion does not resolve the mathematical steps regarding the transformations of wavefunctions.

kakarukeys
Messages
187
Reaction score
0
if we use weight function for inner product/normalization of wavefunctions, what will the momentum operator look like?

[tex]W(q,t)dq = dx[/tex]

[tex]\int \psi'^*(q,t)\psi'(q,t) W(q,t)dq = \int \psi^*(x,t)\psi(x,t) dx[/tex]
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I may be wrong, but doesn't the weight function have something to do with the coordinate system you are in. If we look at a problem that has spherical symmetry our weight function is
[itex]W=r^2sin\theta[/itex].

We know the momentum operator in this case.
 
kakarukeys said:
if we use weight function for inner product/normalization of wavefunctions, what will the momentum operator look like?

[tex]W(q,t)dq = dx[/tex]

[tex]\int \psi'^*(q,t)\psi'(q,t) W(q,t)dq = \int \psi^*(x,t)\psi(x,t) dx[/tex]

In a separable Hilbert space the choise of basis for the space is not unique.In your case of Hilbert space (the space of square modulus integrable functions) you can pick either of the 2 representations u like:momentum/coordinate.Let's say u have the more common coordinate representation.The simplest form for the Hamilton operator is in the rectangular coordinates,yet some systems may have coordinate symmetries,e.g.spherical,cylindrical,hyperboloidal,...The change of coordinates in the same representation automatically alters the other representation's operators and variables.
If u change the "x","p_x" will change as well,but the fundamental commutation relation is left invariant.

To conclude,my guess is that weighing functions are the Jacobian of the (usually orthogonal) coordinate transformation within the same representation,and their connection wrt to mometum operators is not immediate in the coordinate representation but is relevant in the momentum representation.
 
Last edited:
Thanks, by the time there were replies to my thread.
I already figured it out myself.
Yes weight function has something to do with coordinate transformation.

I only had one question not figured out, but this is mathematical
Given two equivalent descriptions of the physics related by a coordinate transformation, one of them has a weight function always > 0 in its inner product.

[tex]\int \psi'^*_A(q,t)\psi'_B(q,t) W(q,t)dq = \int \psi^*_A(q,t)\psi_B(q,t) dq[/tex]
upper/lower limits are the same.

Is [tex]\psi'(q,t) = \frac{C}{\sqrt{W(q,t)}}\psi(q,t)[/tex] the only possible transformation? [tex](|C|^2 = 1)[/tex]
 
kakarukeys said:
Thanks, by the time there were replies to my thread.
I already figured it out myself.
Yes weight function has something to do with coordinate transformation.

I only had one question not figured out, but this is mathematical
Given two equivalent descriptions of the physics related by a coordinate transformation, one of them has a weight function always > 0 in its inner product.

[tex]\int \psi'^*_A(q,t)\psi'_B(q,t) W(q,t)dq = \int \psi^*_A(q,t)\psi_B(q,t) dq[/tex]
upper/lower limits are the same.

Is [tex]\psi'(q,t) = \frac{C}{\sqrt{W(q,t)}}\psi(q,t)[/tex] the only possible transformation? [tex](|C|^2 = 1)[/tex]

C=exp(-if(q,t)) also works where f is any "good" function.

Seratend.
 
I meant besides this kind of manipulation
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
4K
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
4K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K
  • · Replies 31 ·
2
Replies
31
Views
4K