APS » PROLA » Phys. Rev. A » Volume 48 » Issue 6

Phys. Rev. A 48, 4084 - 4090 (1993)

Measurements, errors, and negative kinetic energy

Download: Page Images , PDF (1244 kB), or Buy this Article (Use Article Pack) Export: BibTeX or EndNote (RIS)

Yakir Aharonov
School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, Tel-Aviv 69978 Israel
Department of Physics, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208

Sandu Popescu
Université Libre de Bruxelles, Campus Plaine, Code Postal 225, Boulevard du Triomphe, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium

Daniel Rohrlich and Lev Vaidman
School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, Tel-Aviv 69978 Israel

Received 5 May 1993

An analaysis of errors in measurement yields insight into the penetration of quantum particles into classically forbidden regions. In addition to physical values, realistic measurements yield ‘‘unphysical’’ values which, we show, can form a consistent pattern. An experiment to isolate a particle in a classically forbidden region obtains negative values for its kinetic energy. These values realize the concept of a weak value, discussed in previous works.


©1993 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRA/v48/p4084
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.48.4084
PACS: 03.65.Bz, 03.65.Ca

[ Abstract  |  Previous article  |  Next article  |  Issue 6 ]