Past exam of the physics A course of the University of Cambridge 2010 Paper 2 Section A 2 Solution 2026-10-20
For normalized amplitudes and a time-independent observable , the Schrödinger equation givesThe interference term therefore hasThis is the period of two-state quantum interference. If the off-diagonal matrix element or either amplitude vanishes, the expectation value is constant, so this is not its unique fundamental period. Equal energies likewise give no beat.