The relationship between conservation quantity and symmetry transformation in Quantum mechanics is discussed.Special cases,such as conservation of momentum,conservation of angular momentum,and conservation of energy in quantum mechanics,are discussed.
The recent two papers have successively proposed the concepts and more precise expressions of strict conservation or statistical conservation of physical quantities, which are different from the expression of a conserved quantity in quantum mechanics. The Hamiltonian operator of the system discussed in this paper are independent of time, so it is commutative with the operators of an angular momentum itself, its component and its square, so that all these quantities are conserved quantities. In an isolated composite system, one of the angular momentum components of the total system are strictly conserved, while the angular momentum components of the subsystems can only be conserved statistically, both of which can be expressed in terms of eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. Generally, angular momentum itself does not have eigenvalues and eigenfunctions, so it cannot be expressed as strict conservation in terms of these concepts. Although there are eigenvalues and eigenfunctions for the square of angular momentum, they cannot express strict conservation either. And they can only be expressed as statistical conservation.
In the paradigmatic example of quantum measurements, whenever one measures a system which starts in a superposition of two states of a conserved quantity, it jumps to one of the two states, implying different final values for the quantity that should have been conserved. The standard law of conservation for quantum mechanics handles this jump by stating only that the total distribution of the conserved quantity over repeated measurements is unchanged, but states nothing about individual cases. Here however we show that one can go beyond this and have conservation in each individual instance. We made our arguments in the case of angular momentum of a particle on a circle, where many technicalities simplify, and bring arguments to show that this holds in full generality. Hence we argue that the conservation law in quantum mechanics should be rewritten, to go beyond its hitherto statistical formulation, to state that the total of a conserved quantity is unchanged in every individual measurement outcome. As a further crucial element, we show that conservation can be localised at the level of the system of interest and its relevant frame of reference, and is independent on any assumptions on the distribution of the conserved quantity over the entire universe.
Introduction The application of group theory to study physical problems and their solutions provides a formal method for exploiting the simplifications made possible by the presence of symmetry. Often the symmetry that is readily apparent is the symmetry of the system/object of interest, such as the three-fold axial symmetry of an NH 3 molecule. The symmetry exploited in actual analysis is the symmetry of the Hamiltonian. When alluding to symmetry we usually include geometrical, time-reversal symmetry, and symmetry associated with the exchange of identical particles. Conservation laws of physics are rooted in the symmetries of the underlying space and time. The most common physical laws we are familiar with are actually manifestations of some universal symmetries. For example, the homogeneity and isotropy of space lead to the conservation of linear and angular momentum, respectively, while the homogeneity of time leads to the conservation of energy. Such laws have come to be known as universal conservation laws. As we will delineate in a later chapter, the relation between these classical symmetries and corresponding conserved quantities is beautifully cast in a theorem due to Emmy Noether. At the day-to-day working level of the physicist dealing with quantum mechanics, the application of symmetry restrictions leads to familiar results, such as selection rules and characteristic transformations of eigenfunctions when acted upon by symmetry operations that leave the Hamiltonian of the system invariant.