Testwiki:Reference desk/Archives/Mathematics/2018 November 2

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November 2

Born rule in math?

In physics one deals with quantum states that are unit vectors $(z_1,z_2,\dots )$ in complex Hilbert space. Each state gives rise to a probability distribution on the positive integers, where $\mathrm{Pr}[k]=|z_k{|}^2$ (the Born rule). Question: does this type of distribution show up in non-physics parts of math, like in ordinary probability theory? It seems like it should. Thanks. 173.228.123.166 (talk) 23:10, 2 November 2018 (UTC)

I do not understand. Are not all $|z_k{|}^2$ supposed to be equal to 1? Ruslik_Zero 20:25, 4 November 2018 (UTC)

The $|z_k{|}^2$ are supposed to add up to 1. 173.228.123.166 (talk) 00:51, 5 November 2018 (UTC)