eigenstate

English

Etymology

From eigen- +‎ state.

Noun

eigenstate (plural eigenstates)

1. (physics) A dynamic quantum mechanical state whose wave function is an eigenvector that corresponds to a physical quantity
   • 1987, PDMS and Clusters, page 125:

     Otherwise, in the case of pure physisorption, adatoms and very small adclusters would not be observed with the STM because the probability for the sharp eigenstates of the adparticles to lie within the 10 meV energy window ( given by the bias voltage ) would be considerably small.

   • 2013, Robert D. Klauber, Student Friendly Quantum Field Theory, 2nd edition, Fairfield, IA: Sandtrove Press, published 2018, →ISBN, §3.11.4, page 68:

         In all quantum theories, basis vectors (which are typically eigenstates) are abstractions of the unit basis vectors along the 3D axes. A general state is a vector sum of certain amounts of each basis vector state.

Holonyms

• general state

Related terms

• eigenbasis
• eigenbrain
• eigendecomposition, eigen decomposition
• eigenface
• eigenfunction
• eigengene
• eigenhead
• eigenmode
• eigenpair
• eigenspace
• eigenspinor
• eigensystem
• eigentheory
• eigenvalue
• eigenvector

Translations

dynamic quantum mechanical state

• Danish: egentilstand c
• Italian: autostato m
• Lithuanian: tikrinė būsena, grynoji būsena f
• Portuguese: estado próprio m