Phase factor in quantum mechanics

AI Thread Summary
Complex numbers of the form e^{iθ} have an absolute value (modulus) of 1 due to their representation on the unit circle in the complex plane. The norm of a complex number z can be calculated using its complex conjugate z*, leading to the conclusion that the modulus remains constant at 1 regardless of the angle θ. This is derived from the fact that any complex number can be expressed as re^{iθ}, where r is the modulus. The discussion emphasizes that this property is fundamental and elementary in quantum mechanics. Understanding this concept is crucial for grasping the phase factor in quantum mechanics.
Shreya
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Homework Statement
I watched a lecture in which the professor called the circle expression as a pure phase and took its absolute value to be 1. I don't understand how it's absolute value is 1.
Please refer the image for the circled expression.
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Wave function at x,t
Please be kind to help.I would be grateful
IMG_20211112_125534~2.jpg
 
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Any complex number of the form ##e^{i\theta}## has absolute value (modulus) ##1##.
 
Can you please explain why is it so?
 
Shreya said:
Can you please explain why is it so?
The norm of a complex number can be calculated using the number ##z## and ##z^*=\bar{z}## the complex conjugate.
So, given ##z=e^{i\theta}, \quad \theta \in \mathbb{R}##, you should be able to compute ##z^*## and its norm.
You will see that the norm is 1 independent on ##\theta##.
 
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Shreya said:
Can you please explain why is it so?
Any complex number can be written ##re^{i\theta}##, where ##r## is the modulus and ##\theta## is the angle in the complex plane. That's fairly elementary, I'm sorry to say!
 
Thanks a lot 🙏 Pero K and Gaussian97! It helped a lot. 🙂
 
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