Exam 1 Questions and
Answers Updated 2026
PostulateB1B-
BAnswerBaBsystemBinBaBpureBstateBcanBbeBdescribedBbyBaBwaveBfunctionBthatBisBco
ntinuous,BsingleBvalued,BandBsquareBintegrable
howBtoBfindBprobabilityBofBpositionB-
BAnswerBmultiplyBwaveBfunctionBbyBitselfBandBintegrate
PostulateB2B-
BAnswerBanyBobservableB(anyBmeasurableBpropertyBofBtheBsystem)BcanBbeBdescribed
BbyBanBoperator
anBoperatorBmustBbeB-BAnswerBlinearBandBhermitian
whatBisBanBoperatorB-
BAnswerBaBmathematicalBentityBthatBtransformsBaBfunctionBintoBanotherBfunction
howBisBanBoperatorBwritten?B-
BAnswerBbyBfirstBwritingBtheBclassicalBexpressionBforBtheBobservableBinBcartesianBand
BthenBsubbingBinBtheBxBandBp
anBoperatorBisBlinearBifBandBonlyBifB-
BAnswerBitBsatisfies:BO(af(x)+bg(x))=aOf(x)+bOg(x)
anBoperatorBisBhermitianBifBandBonlyBifB-
BAnswerBtheBequationBisBequalBtoBtheBreverseBandBtheBcomplexBconjugateBofBtheBe
ntireBequation
, aBfunctionBisBanBeigenfunctionBofBanBoperatorBOBifB-
BAnswerBweBoperateBtheBoperatorBontoBitBandBitBgivesBusBanBeigenvalueBandBtheBs
ameBfunctionBback
theBeigenvaluesBofBaBhermitianBoperatorBareB-BAnswerBrealB(knowBproof)
differentBeigenfunctionsBareBorthogonalBandBthusBequalBtoBzeroB-
BAnswerBbecauseBtheyBhaveBdifferentBeigenvaluesB(knowBproof)
PostulateB3B-
BAnswerBtheBoutcomeBofBaBmeasurementBcanBonlyBbeBoneBofBtheBeigenvaluesBofBth
eBoperatorBthatBrepresentsBthatBproperty
PostulateB4B-
BAnswerBtheBaverageBvalueBofBmanyBmeasurementsBofBanBobservableBisBcalledBtheB
expectationBvalue
PostulateB5B-
BAnswerBtheBevolutionBofBtheBeigenfunctionBinBtimeBisBdescribedBbyBtheBtimeBdepe
ndentBschrodingerBequationBihBd*psi(x,t)/dt=H*psi
theBeigenfunctionsBofBaBlinearBandBhermitianBoperatorBformB-
BAnswerBaBcompleteBbasisBset
anyBfunctionBthatBisBcontinuous,BsingleBvalued,BandBsquareBintegrableBcanBbeB-
BAnswerBexpandedBasBaBlinearBcombinationBofBeigenfunctionsBasBpsi(x)=sum(cj*phi(x))
CjBareBnumbersBcalledB-BAnswerBexpansionBcoefficients