Physics – Condensed Matter – Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
Scientific paper
2000-07-09
Physics
Condensed Matter
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
15 pages, Latex, to appear in Foundations of Phys. Lett. (2000)
Scientific paper
Availability of short, femtosecond laser pulses has recently made feasible the probing of phases in an atomic or molecular wave-packet (superposition of energy eigenstates). With short duration excitations the initial form of the wave-packet is an essentially real "doorway state", and this develops phases for each of its component amplitudes as it evolves. It is suggested that these phases are hallmarks of a time arrow and irreversibility that are inherent in the quantum mechanical processes of preparation and evolution. To display the non-triviality of the result, we show under what conditions it would not hold; to discuss its truth, we consider some apparent contradictions. We propose that (in time-reversal invariant systems) the preparation of "initially" complex wave-packets needs finite times to complete, i.e., is not instantaneous.
Englman Robert
Yahalom Asher
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