Can a Wavefunction Change State After Collapse with Disturbance?

andrewthorn
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Once a wavefunction has collapsed, can the system change to a new state if we disturb the system?

For example, if we have a particle in a state of well defined energy (e.g. ground state) and then suddenly change the potential of the particle, can it change to a new state (e.g. excited state)?

How could one work out the probability of it changing state after the disturbance?

Thanks, I'd be grateful if you can contribute to all or just part of my question.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
After wave function collapse, the time evolution of the wave function is again deterministic and governed by the Hamiltonian via the Schoredinger equation. So if you change the Hamiltonian, you will affect the evolution.
 
Not an expert in QM. AFAIK, Schrödinger's equation is quite different from the classical wave equation. The former is an equation for the dynamics of the state of a (quantum?) system, the latter is an equation for the dynamics of a (classical) degree of freedom. As a matter of fact, Schrödinger's equation is first order in time derivatives, while the classical wave equation is second order. But, AFAIK, Schrödinger's equation is a wave equation; only its interpretation makes it non-classical...
Insights auto threads is broken atm, so I'm manually creating these for new Insight articles. Towards the end of the first lecture for the Qiskit Global Summer School 2025, Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Olivia Lanes (Global Lead, Content and Education IBM) stated... Source: https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/quantum-entanglement-is-a-kinematic-fact-not-a-dynamical-effect/ by @RUTA
Is it possible, and fruitful, to use certain conceptual and technical tools from effective field theory (coarse-graining/integrating-out, power-counting, matching, RG) to think about the relationship between the fundamental (quantum) and the emergent (classical), both to account for the quasi-autonomy of the classical level and to quantify residual quantum corrections? By “emergent,” I mean the following: after integrating out fast/irrelevant quantum degrees of freedom (high-energy modes...
Back
Top