Rigid translation from a momentum term in the Hamiltonian
ID: rigid-translation-from-a-momentum-term-in-the-hamiltonian
For a free particle on the line or a circle, commutes with the momentum operator . The commuting operator exponentials in the title therefore factorize. Since , the factor translates a wavefunction to , as is verified on each momentum eigenstate. Thus the probability density translates with velocity relative to the evolution. A real constant changes only the global phase. In particular a superposition in one degenerate energy eigenspace translates rigidly under the added term .
New to topics? Read the docs here!