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Jamister
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- What is matrix mechanics? Is it the same meaning as Heisenberg picture?
In a course of QM they mention Matrix mechanics. But what is it exactly? Is it just Heisenberg picture?
It's not the Heisenberg picture. Heisenberg developed an alternative formalism for QM based on matrices. This was superseded by the more popular wave mechanics (i.e. solving the Schroedinger differential equation). In short, it is technically a lot easier to use the SDE.Jamister said:Summary:: What is matrix mechanics? Is it the same meaning as Heisenberg picture?
In a course of QM they mention Matrix mechanics. But what is it exactly? Is it just Heisenberg picture?
I tried to read from wikipedia but it's really not clear, it's more like historical review. do you know a better source? thank youPeroK said:It's not the Heisenberg picture. Heisenberg developed an alternative formalism for QM based on matrices. This was superseded by the more popular wave mechanics (i.e. solving the Schroedinger differential equation). In short, it is technically a lot easier to use the SDE.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_mechanics
Both are equivalent and special cases of the more abstract Dirac formalism.
I don't, I'm afraid. I don't know if anybody taught matrix mechanics after 1927 or so.Jamister said:I tried to read from wikipedia but it's really not clear, it's more like historical review. do you know a better source? thank you
It's just QM expressed in the language of matrices. For instance, instead of saying that momentum is an operator, in matrix meachanics one says that momentum is a collection of all matrix elements ##\langle n|p|m \rangle##.Jamister said:In a course of QM they mention Matrix mechanics. But what is it exactly?
Matrix Mechanics is a mathematical framework used to describe the behavior of particles at the atomic and subatomic level. It was developed in the 1920s by Werner Heisenberg, Max Born, and Pascual Jordan as an alternative to classical mechanics.
Unlike classical mechanics, which describes particles as having definite positions and velocities, Matrix Mechanics uses mathematical matrices to represent the probabilities of a particle's position and momentum. This approach is necessary for understanding the behavior of particles at the quantum level.
The uncertainty principle, also known as the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, is a fundamental concept in Matrix Mechanics. It states that the more precisely we know a particle's position, the less precisely we can know its momentum, and vice versa. This principle is a consequence of the probabilistic nature of Matrix Mechanics.
Matrix Mechanics is a crucial tool in modern physics, particularly in the fields of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. It is used to describe the behavior of particles, such as electrons and photons, and to predict their interactions with each other and with their environment.
Matrix Mechanics has numerous real-world applications, including the development of technologies such as transistors, lasers, and computer memory. It also plays a crucial role in understanding and predicting the behavior of materials at the atomic level, which is essential for fields such as nanotechnology and materials science.