3 ms·
(1) How can the ground state not be an energy eigenstate? By definition, the lowest-energy state has a well-defined energy (that is, the lowest energy) and ther
by tedsanders 14y ago
(1) How can the ground state not be an energy eigenstate? By definition, the lowest-energy state has a well-defined energy (that is, the lowest energy) and therefore ought to be in an energy eigenstate?
(2) You said: "Our current best theory that describes reality at the small scale is quantum mechanics." I don't disagree, but I'd like to emphasize that "at the small scale" might not have been necessary. I think it's a shame when people think that quantum mechanics only applies to small things.
(3) The way that I understand time crystals is that they are analogous to real crystals. And just as the translational symmetry of a crystal creates a corresponding quasi-momentum for the momentum, so does the time-translational symmetry introduce a quasi-energy similar to energy. Is that correct? Perhaps it helps answer my first question.
- Xcelerate 14y ago1) It still is an energy eigenstate, unless I've confused something somewhere. The Hamiltonian applied to Ψ(r, t) should give the same value for E regardless of t. 2) I certainly agree that QM is the basis to everything. However, with the quantum gravity issue, I didn't want to imply it was a grand unified theory to someone who wasn't familiar with QM. 3) I haven't taken a solid state physics course, so I'm afraid I don't know enough to answer that.