From Hardy Spaces to Quantum Jumps: A Quantum Mechanical Beginning of Time

Abstract

In quantum mechanical experiments one distinguishes between the state of an experimental system and an observable measured in it. Heuristically, the distinction between states and observables is also suggested in scattering theory or when one expresses causality. We explain how this distinction can be made also mathematically. The result is a theory with asymmetric time evolution and for which decaying states are exactly unified with resonances. A consequence of the asymmetric time evolution is a beginning of time. The meaning of this beginning of time can be understood by identifying it in data from quantum jumps experiments.