Forest FermiGoldenRule Notes

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Fermi's Golden rule is used to calculate the probability (per unit time) of a quantum mechanical transition between two quantum states. Although Fermi first coined the term "Golden Rule", Dirac developed most of the machinery.

|Mi,f|2=ψiHpertψfdv

where

ψi = initial quantum state of the system
ϕf = final quantum state of system after a transition
Hpert = part of the Hamiltonian which is responsible for the transition.
H0 = Unperturbed ("steady state") Hamiltonian
Htot=H0+Hpert = total hamiltonian describing the quantum mechanical system
dv integration over all space