A Effect of time reversed hamiltonian acting on a state?

Brage
Messages
55
Reaction score
13
Hi, I have been trying to get my head around the effect of a time reversed hamiltonian ##H^B(t)=H(-t)=T^{-1}H^F T ## on a state ket ##|\psi>##, where ##H^F=H## is the regular hamiltonian for the system (energy associated with forward time translation) and ##H^B=H(-t)## is the time reversed hamiltonian, and ##T## is the time reveral operator. I here assume the hamiltionian is not time-invariant. Let me explain my throught process:

As ##i\partial_t = H## this implies that ##T^{-1}i\partial_t T=T^{-1}H^F T=H^B##.

But ##T^{-1}i\partial_t T=-T^{-1}iT\partial_t=i\partial_t##, as ##T^{-1}iT = -i##. Which would seem to imply that ##H^F|\psi>=H^B|\psi>##, which seemingly contradicts the assumed condition ##[H^F,H^B]\neq 0##. I assume this means I have made a mistake somewhere but can't seem to find it.

I would appreciate any help from people who can point out my error, cheers!

Brage
 
Physics news on Phys.org
How does the first equality in your third paragraph arise?
 
Well ##T\partial_t |\psi>=\partial_{-t}T|\psi>## so then ##T\partial_t |\psi>=-\partial_{t}T|\psi>## correct?
 
I agree with the first equality, but I don't see how the second equality follows unless the state is linear in t.
 
  • Like
Likes Brage
Jilang said:
I agree with the first equality, but I don't see how the second equality follows unless the state is linear in t.
Oh of course I was using ##d(-t)=-dt##. Cheers for that!
 
  • Like
Likes Jilang
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