- #1
Bob3141592
- 236
- 2
- TL;DR Summary
- An amateur asks: Do any solutions of quantum systems have non-zero imaginary components?
I guess the summary says it all, if the question is clear enough. The last time I took physics courses was 45 years ago, and the QM course blew my mind, meaning I was mostly baffled. I could not wrap my head around it, and without a conceptual framework I couldn't remember the details. So I basically washed out into computers, which at the time was a good option. Anyway, I kinda know some stuff, but mostly I know nothing.
I sort of remember in solving the Schrodinger equation (probably time independent but I doubt it matters), there were leftover imaginary parts that were just crossed off the blackboard. I was under the impression at the time that these imaginary residuals were just ignored. I don't recall the professor ever arguing that they must be zero. He may have, but if he did I missed the point. I missed a lot, for example, I have never worked with Dirac notation. But that was then, and I'd like to know now. It's a fairly general question that I don't know how to research, so I'll just ask here.
Any comments will be very appreciated. TIA
I sort of remember in solving the Schrodinger equation (probably time independent but I doubt it matters), there were leftover imaginary parts that were just crossed off the blackboard. I was under the impression at the time that these imaginary residuals were just ignored. I don't recall the professor ever arguing that they must be zero. He may have, but if he did I missed the point. I missed a lot, for example, I have never worked with Dirac notation. But that was then, and I'd like to know now. It's a fairly general question that I don't know how to research, so I'll just ask here.
Any comments will be very appreciated. TIA