Related papers: The Lee model: a tool to study decays
We study the properties of the survival probability of an unstable quantum state described by a Lee Hamiltonian. This theoretical approach resembles closely Quantum Field Theory (QFT): one can introduce in a rather simple framework the…
The Lee-Friedrichs model has been very useful in the study of decay-scattering systems in the framework of complex quantum mechanics. Since it is exactly soluble, the analytic structure of the amplitudes can be explicitly studied. It is…
We study the deviations from the exponential decay law, both in quantum field theory (QFT) and quantum mechanics (QM), for an unstable particle which can decay in (at least) two decay channels. After a review of general properties of…
After reviewing the description of an unstable state in the framework of Lee Hamiltonians (valid both for Quantum Mechanics (QM) and Quantum Field Theory (QFT)), we consider some theoretical aspects of non-exponential decays: the case of…
After reviewing the description of an unstable state in the framework of nonrelativistic Quantum Mechanics (QM) and relativistic Quantum Field Theory (QFT), we consider the effect of pulsed, ideal measurements repeated at equal time…
We analyze the Zeno phenomenon in quantum field theory. The decay of an unstable system can be modified by changing the time interval between successive measurements (or by varying the coupling to an external system that plays the role of…
Certain aspects of some unitary quantum systems are well-described by evolution via a non-Hermitian effective Hamiltonian, as in the Wigner-Weisskopf theory for spontaneous decay. Conversely, any non-Hermitian Hamiltonian evolution can be…
This paper is a pedagogical yet critical introduction to the quantum description of unstable systems, mostly at the level of a graduate quantum mechanics course. Quantum decays appear in many different fields of physics, and their…
The decay of an unstable system is usually described by an exponential law. Quantum mechanics predicts strong deviations of the survival probability from the exponential: indeed, the decay is initially quadratic, while at very large times…
The one-channel Wigner-Weisskopf survival amplitude may be dominated by exponential type decay in pole approximation at times not too short or too long, but, in the two channel case, for example, the pole residues are not orthogonal, and…
The Loschmidt echo (LE) is a measure of the sensitivity of quantum mechanics to perturbations in the evolution operator. It is defined as the overlap of two wave functions evolved from the same initial state but with slightly different…
We discuss some of the experimental motivation for the need for semigroup decay laws, and the quantum Lax-Phillips theory of scattering and unstable systems. In this framework, the decay of an unstable system is described by a semigroup.…
Quantum field model of unstable particles with random mass is suggested to describe the finite-width effects in decay rate. Within the framework of this model we derive the convolution formula for a width of the channels with unstable…
While divergence and renormalization of physical quantities are frequently encountered in quantum field theory (QFT), they are not necessarily quantum-specific characteristics. We show in this paper that there exists a classical counterpart…
The quantum mechanical description of the evolution of an unstable system defined initially as a state in a Hilbert space at a given time does not provide a semigroup (exponential) decay law. The Wigner-Weisskopf survival amplitude,…
A simple quantum model explains the Levy-unstable distributions for individual stock returns observed by ref.[1]. The probability density function of the returns is written as the squared modulus of an amplitude. For short time intervals…
Resonance and decay phenomena are ubiquitous in the quantum world. To understand them in their complexity it is useful to study solvable models in a wide sense, that is, systems which can be treated by analytical means. The present review…
We review the Lee-Friedrichs model as a model of atomic resonances in the hydrogen atom, using the dipole-moment matrix-element functions which have been exactly computed by Nussenzveig. The Hamiltonian $H$ of the model is positive and has…
A soluble model for the relativistically description of an unstable system is given in terms of relativistic quantum field theory, with a structure similar to Van Hove's generalization of the Lee model in the non-relativistic theory.
The scaling limit of the two-dimensional Ising model in the plane of temperature and magnetic field defines a field theory which provides the simplest illustration of non-trivial phenomena such as spontaneous symmetry breaking and…