Under what condition <AB>=<A><B> stands?

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In summary, the conversation discusses the requirement for the state <f| to be an eigenstate of both A and B in order for the equality <f|AB|f>=<f|A|f><f|B|f> to hold. It is stated that this condition is sufficient but not necessarily necessary, as there could be cases where non-commuting operators share one eigenstate in common. The proof for this is left to be completed by the other person. The conversation also touches on the role of [A,B]=0 in this condition, stating that it is a sufficient condition but not strictly necessary as A and B do not necessarily need to share a complete set of eigenstates.
  • #1
Robert_G
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The same thing as title.
 
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  • #2
The < has to be an eigenstate of A, and the > an eigenstate of B.
 
  • #3
Can you tell me why?
 
  • #4
[A,B]=0? Am i right?
 
  • #5
In some normalized state |f> you want to know when is <f|AB|f>=<f|A|f><f|B|f> (if the state is not normalized, then we have to add some factors in the denominator, which is annoying notationally, but easy to do).

If A|f>=a|f> and B|f>=b|f> then we can see that <f|AB|f>=ba<f|f>=ab and <f|A|f><f|B|f>=ab<f|f><f|f>=ab. So in the case that |f> is an eigenstate of both A and B, then we will have this equality hold. This condition is therefore sufficient, but is it necessary? Actually it's late right now, and off the top of my head, I am unsure if this condition is necessary, perhaps you can finish the other half of the proof.

Do we need [A,B]=0? Well, in the above sufficiency argument we required that |f> be an eigenstate of both A and B. So we only required that the state in which we take the expectation value to be an eigenstate of both A and B. We did not require that A and B share a complete set of eigenstates. So although [A,B]=0 is a sufficient condition, since commuting operators share eigenstates, it is not strictly speaking necessary. There could be exotic conditions where non-commuting operators share 1 eigenstate in common for example.
 

1. What does the equation = mean?

The equation = represents the multiplication of two numbers or variables, A and B, where the product is represented by AB. This equation is known as the multiplication property of equality.

2. What is the significance of the equation =?

The equation = is significant because it shows the relationship between two numbers or variables and how they can be multiplied to equal a specific product. This equation is fundamental in algebra and is used to solve equations and equations involving fractions.

3. Under what conditions does = hold true?

The equation = is true for all real numbers or variables A and B. This means that no matter what values are given to A and B, the equation will hold true. This also applies to complex numbers and variables.

4. How can the equation = be proven?

The equation = can be proven using the commutative and associative properties of multiplication. The commutative property states that the order of multiplication does not affect the product, while the associative property states that the grouping of factors does not affect the product. By applying these properties, we can see that = is always true.

5. What is the difference between = and =?

The equation = represents the multiplication of two numbers or variables, while = represents the addition of two numbers or variables. These are two different operations and have different properties. While the first equation holds true for all real and complex numbers, the second equation only holds true for certain values of A and B, such as when they are both positive or both negative.

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