The evolution operator governs time-dependent Hamiltonians in quantum mechanics.
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Retrieved reference materials and literature confirm that the Hamiltonian operator governs time evolution in quantum systems, defining the time-evolution operator for both time-independent and time-dependent cases.
A non-Hermitian operator H defined in a Hilbert space with inner product ⟨ · | · ⟩ may serve as the Hamiltonian for a unitary quantum system if it is η -pseudo-Hermitian for a metric operator (positive-definite automorphism) η . The latter defines the inner product ⟨ · | η · ⟩ of the physical Hilbert space H η of the system. For situations where some of the eigenstates of H depend on time, η becomes time-dependent. Therefore, the system has a non-stationary Hilbert space. Such quantum systems, which are also encountered in the study of quantum mechanics in cosmological backgrounds, suffer from a conflict between the unitarity of time evolution and the unobservability of the Hamiltonian. Their proper treatment requires a geometric framework which clarifies the notion of the energy observable and leads to a geometric extension of quantum mechanics (GEQM). We provide a general introduction to the subject, review some of the recent developments, offer a straightforward description of the Heisenberg-picture formulation of the dynamics for quantum systems having a time-dependent Hilbert space, and outline the Heisenberg-picture formulation of dynamics in GEQM.
The Schrödinger equation with a time-dependent quadratic Hamiltonian is investigated. The time-evolution operator is written as a product of exponential operators determined by the Heisenberg equations of motion. This product operator is shown to be global in the occupation number representation when the Hamiltonian is Hermitian. The success of some physical applications of the product-form representation is explained.
The usual definition of the time evolution operator e−iHt/ℏ=∑n=0∞1n!(−iℏHt)n, where H is the Hamiltonian of the system, as given in almost every book on quantum mechanics, causes problems in some situations. The operators that appear in quantum mechanics are either bounded or unbounded. Unbounded operators are not defined for all the vectors (wave functions) of the Hilbert space of the system; when applied to some states, they give a non-normalizable state. Therefore, if H is an unbounded operator, the definition in terms of the power series expansion does not make sense because it may diverge or result in a non-normalizable wave function. In this article, we explain why this is so and suggest, as an alternative, another definition used by mathematicians.
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