In physics, the Heisenberg picture is a formulation (made by Werner Heisenberg while on Heligoland in the 1920s) of quantum mechanics in which the operators (observables and others) incorporate a dependency on time, but the state vectors are time-independent. It stands in contrast to the Schrödinger picture in which the operators are constant and the states evolve in time. The two models only differ by a basis change with respect to time-dependency, which is the difference between active and passive transformation. The Heisenberg picture is the formulation of matrix mechanics in an arbitrary basis, in which the Hamiltonian is not necessarily diagonal.
Read more about Heisenberg Picture: Mathematical Details, Deriving Heisenberg's Equation, Commutator Relations
Famous quotes containing the word picture:
“no picture is made to endure nor to live with
but it is made to sell and sell quickly
with usura, sin against nature,
is thy bread ever more of stale rags
is thy bread dry as paper,”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)