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The characterization of quantum-mechanical operators

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2008

J. L. B. Cooper
J. L. B. Cooper
Affiliation:
Birkbeck CollegeLondon
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Extract

It is well known that the operators mainly employed in quantum theory are hermitian; it is less well known amongst physicists that they are required, in addition, to be self-adjoint. This is essential for the validity of the result known in quantum theory as the representation theorem and in the mathematical theory as the resolution of the identity. The purpose of this paper is to show that the self-adjoint operators can be characterized by a condition which is nearer to having a physical significance than those given in the literature.

Type
Research Article
Information
Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society , Volume 46 , Issue 4 , October 1950 , pp. 614 - 619
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge Philosophical Society 1950

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References

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