Time-of-arrival probabilities and quantum measurements. III. Decay of unstable states

DOI10.1063/1.2839920zbMATH Open1153.81309arXiv0706.2496OpenAlexW3106293395MaRDI QIDQ3544602FDOQ3544602

Authors: Charis Anastopoulos 

Publication date: 8 December 2008

Published in: Journal of Mathematical Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We study the decay of unstable states by formulating quantum tunneling as a time-of-arrival problem: we determine the detection probability for particles at a detector located a distance L from the tunneling region. For this purpose, we use a Positive-Operator-Valued-Measure (POVM) for the time-of-arrival determined in quant-ph/0509020 [JMP 7, 122106 (2006)]. This only depends on the initial state, the Hamiltonian and the location of the detector. The POVM above provides a well-defined probability density and an unambiguous interpretation of all quantities involved. We demonstrate that the exponential decay only arises if three specific mathematical conditions are met. Their physical content is the following: (i) the decay time is much larger than any microscopic timescale, so that the fine details of the initial state can be ignored, (ii) there is no quantum coherence between the different `attempts' of the particle to traverse the barrier, and (iii) the transmission probability varies little within the momentum spread of the initial state. We also determine the long time limits of the decay probability and we identify regimes, in which the decays have no exponential phase.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/0706.2496

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Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Quantum measurement theory, state operations, state preparations (81P15)

Cites Work

• Time-of-arrival probabilities and quantum measurements. II. Application to tunneling times
• The decay law can have an irregular character
• Time-of-arrival probabilities and quantum measurements
• Representation of Particle States in Quantum Field Theory

Cited In (17)

• Coherences of accelerated detectors and the local character of the Unruh effect
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• Real-time particle-detection probabilities in accelerated macroscopic detectors
• Transformation of intermediate times in the decays of moving unstable quantum systems via the exponential modes
• Quantum temporal probabilities in tunneling systems
• Multi-time measurements in Hawking radiation: information at higher-order correlations
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• Quantum decay law: critical times and the equivalence of approaches
• Interpreting the measurement of time of decay: phenomenological significance of the Bohm model
• Quantum field theory based quantum information: measurements and correlations
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