How would you determine the ground state of a quantum system with no exact solution?

在没有精确解情况下你如何确定子系统态？

I would guess a wave-function and then vary its parameters until I found the lowest energy solution.

我会任意猜测一个态波函数，通过更改其参数找出能最子态。

But as some of the excited electrons fall back to their ground states, they emit energy as light.

不过当一部分激发电子回到它们态时候，它们会释放出能，即光。

This, in turn, makes them open to physicists' probings, because there are no confusing changes happening inside the atoms themselves.

物理学家因此可以检测反氢原子，因为处于态反氢原子不会在原子内部发生难以解释变化。

Sometimes electrons in those atoms get into an excited state, and when they come back down again they give off light.

有时原子当中电子被激发，而当它们回到态时，便发出了光。

There's another kind of transition it can do, even in the ground state.

即使在态，它也能进行另一转变。

There are a continuum of energy levels all the way down to the ground state.

从始至终，能水平都是连续，直到态。

It has a base configuration of neon.

它具有氖态电子排布。

We call it the ground state or the excited state.

我们称之为态或激发态。

That is plenty of time for them to relax into their ground state, the most energetically stable condition they can be in.

这一时间足以让反氢原子弛豫，回到态，即它们可能达到能最稳定状态。

And then that state could decay into the ground state of carbon-12 that is kind of stable, right?

然后这状态可以衰变成相对稳定碳-12态，对吗？

Well I use a short hand where we could say, well it's base configuration is the same as neon.

好吧，我使用一速记方式，可以说，它态排布与氖相同。

Now when all those electrons drop down to the ground state, that atom is going to release some gamma radiation.

现在当所有那些电子降到态时，这个原子将会释放一些γ辐射。

And so it's kind of like energy levels, but they're just these tiny splittings of the ground state energy level.

这有点像能级，但它们只是态能级一些微小分裂。

As the muon drops down to this different ground state, an x-ray is emitted—alerting Krauth's team that the transition has occurred.

当μ子降到这个不同态时，会发出X射线——这提示克劳斯团队跃迁已经发生。

Bombard an ordinary hydrogen atom with microwaves of the right frequency and you will lift it out of its ground state by flipping the spin of its electron.

以特定频率微波轰击普通氢原子可以反转其中电子自旋，使其跃迁离开态。

In quantum mechanics, one of the most important properties of a many-body system is the difference in energy between its ground state and its first excited state.

在子力学中，多体系统最重要性质之一是其态与第一激发态之间能差。

So the muon starts in a semi-stable place—the food-messy desk—moves up to an unstable state—the clean desk—and then cascades down to a different stable ground state—the paper-messy desk.

因此，介子从一个半稳定地方开始——食物凌乱桌子——上升到一个不稳定状态——干净桌子——然后向下级联到另一个稳定态- 乱七八糟桌子。

That can make things a little confusing, because it's hard to visualize a pair of complex numbers, which is what would describe a superposition of two base states.

那可能会让人有点困惑，因为很难想象一对复数，而这对复数正是用来描述两个态叠加。

Quantum states, much like this wiggling direction of our wave, are described as a superposition of multiple base states, where you have many choices for what base states to use.

子态就像我们波这摇摆方向一样，被描述为多个态叠加，你可以选择使用哪些态。