There Are Quantum Jumps

Abstract

In this communication we take up the age-old problem of the possibility to incorporate quantum jumps. Unusually, we investigate quantum jumps in an extended quantum setting, but one of rigorous mathematical significance. The general background for this formulation originates in the Balslev-Combes theorem for dilatation analytic Hamiltonians and associated complex symmetric representations. The actual jump is mapped into a Jordan block of order two and a detailed derivation is discussed for the case of the emission of a photon by an atom. The result can be easily reassigned to analogous cases as well as generalized to Segrè characteristics of arbitrary order.

Keywords

• dilation analytic family of operators
• complex symmetric representation
• Segrè characteristic
• Jordan block