Energy conservation in quantum mechanics

摘要

In the classical mechanics of conservative systems, the position and momentum evolve deterministically such that the sum of the kinetic energy and potential energy remains constant in time. This canonical trademark of energy conservation is absent in the standard presentations of quantum mechanics based on the Schrodinger picture. We present a purely canonical proof of energy conservation that focuses exclusively on the time-dependent position x(t) and momentum p(t) operators. This treatment of energy conservation serves as an introduction to the Heisenberg picture and illuminates the classical-quantum connection. We derive a quantum-mechanical work-energy theorem and show explicitly how the time dependence of x and p and the noncommutivity of x and p conspire to bring about a perfect temporal balance between the evolving kinetic and potential parts of the total energy operator. (C) 2004 American Association of Physics Teachers.