Phase factors quantum theory

The quantum phase factor is the exponential of an imaginary quantity (i times the phase), which multiplies into a wave function. Historically, a natural extension of this was proposed in the fonn of a gauge transformation, which both multiplies into and admixes different components of a multicomponent wave function [103]. The resulting gauge theories have become an essential tool of quantum field theories and provide (as already noted in the discussion of the YM field) the modem rationale of basic forces between elementary particles [67-70]. It has already been noted that gauge theories have also made notable impact on molecular properties, especially under conditions that the electronic... 

This is the Wigner-Eckart theorem, a very important result which underpins most applications of angular momentum theory to quantum mechanics. It states that the required matrix element can be written as the product of a 3- j symbol and a phase factor, which expresses all the angular dependence, and the reduced matrix element (rj, j T/ (d) if. j ) which is independent of component quantum numbers and hence of orientation. Thus one quantity is sufficient to determine all (2j + 1) x (2k + 1) x (2/ + 1) possible matrix elements (rj, j, mfIkq(A) rj, jf m ). The phase factor arises because the bra (rj, j, m transforms in the same way as the ket (— y m rj, j, —m). The definition of the reduced matrix element in equation (5.123), which is due to Edmonds [1] and also favoured by Zare [4], is the one we shall use throughout this book. The alternative definition, promoted by Brink and Satchler [3],... 

In the lagrangian formulation of quantum theory. S only enters as a phase factor in propagators, but disappears from squared modulus expressions such as transition probabilities [9], This already suggests the invariance of the physical predictions of the theory against different choices of the field G(x). One can also see this directly in the Hamiltonian formulation of quantum theory. If F is hermitian with respect to some inner product. 

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