{
  "id": "quant-ph/9709031",
  "version": "v3",
  "published": "1997-09-14T18:51:32.000Z",
  "updated": "1998-01-29T18:00:48.000Z",
  "title": "Measurement of Time-of-Arrival in Quantum Mechanics",
  "authors": [
    "Y. Aharonov",
    "J. Oppenheim",
    "S. Popescu",
    "B. Reznik",
    "W. G. Unruh"
  ],
  "comment": "References added. To appear in Phys. Rev. A",
  "journal": "Phys.Rev. A57 (1998) 4130",
  "doi": "10.1103/PhysRevA.57.4130",
  "categories": [
    "quant-ph",
    "gr-qc"
  ],
  "abstract": "It is argued that the time-of-arrival cannot be precisely defined and measured in quantum mechanics. By constructing explicit toy models of a measurement, we show that for a free particle it cannot be measured more accurately then $\\Delta t_A \\sim 1/E_k$, where $E_k$ is the initial kinetic energy of the particle. With a better accuracy, particles reflect off the measuring device, and the resulting probability distribution becomes distorted. It is shown that a time-of-arrival operator cannot exist, and that approximate time-of-arrival operators do not correspond to the measurements considered here.",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "version": "v3",
      "updated": "1998-01-29T18:00:48.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "analyses": {
    "keywords": [
      "quantum mechanics",
      "measurement",
      "approximate time-of-arrival operators",
      "initial kinetic energy",
      "constructing explicit toy models"
    ],
    "tags": [
      "journal article"
    ],
    "publication": {
      "publisher": "APS",
      "journal": "Phys. Rev. A"
    },
    "note": {
      "typesetting": "TeX",
      "pages": 0,
      "language": "en",
      "license": "arXiv",
      "status": "editable",
      "inspire": 448428
    }
  }
}