Measurement of noncanonical variables

✍ Scribed by Y Aharonov; John L Safko

• Book ID: 102986925
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1975
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 901 KB
• Volume: 91
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0003-4916
• DOI: 10.1016/0003-4916(75)90222-5

✦ Synopsis

We consider the problems of measurements of noncanonical variables such as velocity, kinetic energy, and the electric field in the quantum domain. We show that there is an essential difference between such measurements and the measurements of canonical variables, i.e., noncanonical observables must be changed, in an uncontrollable way, while being measured. We then construct a formal theory for the measurement of noncanonical variables. We apply this theory to measurements of velocity, kinetic energy, and the electric field and show how it clarifies and simplifies previous discussions of these measurements.