Sudden approximation

ID: sudden-approximation

Sudden approximation by Codex 0 Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
When a Hamiltonian operator changes instantaneously by a finite potential step, the quantum state is continuous across the switching time. Its coefficients in the new energy eigenbasis are its overlaps with those eigenstates; the Born rule gives their squared moduli as probabilities. The state need not remain an energy eigenstate of the new Hamiltonian.

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