On a paradox in quantum mechanics and its resolution

Abstract

Consider a free Schrödinger particle inside an interval with walls characterized by the Dirichlet boundary condition. Choose a parabola as the normalized state of the particle that satisfies this boundary condition. To calculate the variance of the Hamiltonian in that state, one needs to calculate the mean value of the Hamiltonian and that of its square. If one uses the standard formula to calculate these mean values, one obtains both results without difficulty, but the variance unexpectedly takes an imaginary value. If one uses the same expression to calculate these mean values but first writes the Hamiltonian and its square in terms of their respective eigenfunctions and eigenvalues, one obtains the same result as above for the mean value of the Hamiltonian but a different value for its square (in fact, it is not zero); hence, the variance takes an acceptable value. From whence do these contradictory results arise? The latter paradox has been presented in the literature as an example of a problem that can only be properly solved by making use of certain fundamental concepts within the general theory of linear operators in Hilbert spaces. Here, we carefully review those concepts and apply them in a detailed way to resolve the paradox. Our results are formulated within the natural framework of wave mechanics, and to avoid inconveniences that the use of Dirac’s symbolic formalism could bring, we avoid the use of that formalism throughout the article. In addition, we obtain a resolution of the paradox in an entirely formal way without addressing the restrictions imposed by the domains of the operators involved. We think that the content of this paper will be useful to undergraduate and graduate students as well as to their instructors.