Measurement of a Hydrogen qubit?

[Julian Blair]

Given a 2 state hydrogen atom in a superimposed state, how does one measure it for either of its two states?

 

[Fotisd]

I don't think your question is well posed. In quantum mechanics the state of a system is not an "observable". The observables (the quantities that you measure in experiments) are represented by hermitian operators that act on the states of the system.

 

[bhobba]

The energy eigenfunctions of a hydrogen atom are infinite - its not a two state system.

Thanks
Bill

 

[Julian Blair]

OK, let me explain a bit better. The ground and 1st excited states of an Hydrogen atom are often given as an example of a qubit for use in quantum computing. The energies of these states are definitely eigenstates of the Hamiltonian. My question has to do with an Hydrogen qubit in a superimposed state comprising both the ground and 1st excited state. If this qubit has been altered via a quantum algorithm, then one would like to measure the probabilities that it is in state |0> or state |1>. How could this be done?
Of course this measurement would have to be re-done multiple times to arrive at an estimation of the probabilities.