Student difficulties with representations of quantum operators corresponding to observables

Marshman, Emily; Singh, Chandralekha

» home » Detail Page

Conference Proceedings Detail Page

Student difficulties with representations of quantum operators corresponding to observables

written by Emily Marshman and Chandralekha Singh

Dirac notation is used commonly in quantum mechanics. However, many upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in physics have difficulties with representations of quantum operators corresponding to observables especially when using Dirac notation. To investigate these difficulties, we administered free-response and multiple-choice questions and conducted individual interviews with students in advanced quantum mechanics courses. We discuss the analysis of data on the common difficulties found.

Physics Education Research Conference 2016
Part of the PER Conference series
Sacramento, CA: July 20-21, 2016
Pages 216-219

download 3008kb .pdf
Last Modified: November 30, 2016

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Education - Basic Research - Alternative Conceptions Mathematical Tools - Linear Algebra and Tensors = Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors Quantum Physics - Foundations and Measurements = Hilbert Space	- Upper Undergraduate - Graduate/Professional	- Reference Material = Research study

PER-Central Type	Intended Users	Ratings
- PER Literature	- Researchers - Educators	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

Format:: application/pdf
Mirror:: https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2016…
Access Rights:: Free access
License:: This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the published article's author(s), title, proceedings citation, and DOI.
Rights Holder:: American Association of Physics Teachers
DOI:: 10.1119/perc.2016.pr.049
NSF Number:: 1505460
Keyword:: PERC 2016
Record Creator:: Metadata instance created November 30, 2016 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:: December 30, 2016 by Bruce Mason
Last Update when Cataloged:: December 29, 2016
Other Collections:: The Quantum Exchange

Post a new comment on this item

ComPADRE is beta testing Citation Styles!

Record Link

<a href="https://www.per-central.org/items/detail.cfm?ID=14232">Marshman, Emily, and Chandralekha Singh. "Student difficulties with representations of quantum operators corresponding to observables." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2016, Sacramento, CA, July 20-21, 2016.</a>

AIP Format

E. Marshman and C. Singh, , presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2016, Sacramento, CA, 2016, WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14232&DocID=4586).

AJP/PRST-PER

E. Marshman and C. Singh, Student difficulties with representations of quantum operators corresponding to observables, presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2016, Sacramento, CA, 2016, <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14232&DocID=4586>.

APA Format

Marshman, E., & Singh, C. (2016, July 20-21). Student difficulties with representations of quantum operators corresponding to observables. Paper presented at Physics Education Research Conference 2016, Sacramento, CA. Retrieved March 26, 2025, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14232&DocID=4586

Chicago Format

Marshman, Emily, and Chandralekha Singh. "Student difficulties with representations of quantum operators corresponding to observables." Paper presented at the Physics Education Research Conference 2016, Sacramento, CA, July 20-21, 2016. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14232&DocID=4586 (accessed 26 March 2025).

MLA Format

Marshman, Emily, and Chandralekha Singh. "Student difficulties with representations of quantum operators corresponding to observables." Physics Education Research Conference 2016. Sacramento, CA: 2016. 216-219 of PER Conference. 26 Mar. 2025 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14232&DocID=4586>.

BibTeX Export Format

@inproceedings{ Author = "Emily Marshman and Chandralekha Singh", Title = {Student difficulties with representations of quantum operators corresponding to observables}, BookTitle = {Physics Education Research Conference 2016}, Pages = {216-219}, Address = {Sacramento, CA}, Series = {PER Conference}, Month = {July 20-21}, Year = {2016} }

Refer Export Format

%A Emily Marshman %A Chandralekha Singh %T Student difficulties with representations of quantum operators corresponding to observables %S PER Conference %D July 20-21 2016 %P 216-219 %C Sacramento, CA %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14232&DocID=4586 %O Physics Education Research Conference 2016 %O July 20-21 %O application/pdf

EndNote Export Format

%0 Conference Proceedings %A Marshman, Emily %A Singh, Chandralekha %D July 20-21 2016 %T Student difficulties with representations of quantum operators corresponding to observables %B Physics Education Research Conference 2016 %C Sacramento, CA %P 216-219 %S PER Conference %8 July 20-21 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=14232&DocID=4586

Disclaimer: ComPADRE offers citation styles as a guide only. We cannot offer interpretations about citations as this is an automated procedure. Please refer to the style manuals in the Citation Source Information area for clarifications.

Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

The AJP/PRST-PER presented is based on the AIP Style with the addition of journal article titles and conference proceeding article titles.

The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References.

The Chicago Style presented is based on information from Examples of Chicago-Style Documentation.

The MLA Style presented is based on information from the MLA FAQ.