Quantum Poisson Processes

Abstract:
I present an attempt to find a stochastic Law of Dynamics for non-relativistic Quantum Mechanics. The time evolution of individual physical systems consisting of charged matter interacting with the quantized electromagnetic field, e.g., electrons in the shell of an atom coupled to the radiation field, is dissipative and stochastic, featuring isolated random events sometimes called “quantum jumps." In an idealized description of the time evolution of such systems a class of stochastic processes is encountered that I call “quantum Poisson processes." In this talk, I introduce these processes, present some of their mathematical properties and sketch applications to quantum theory, in particular to the phenomenon of spontaneous emission of light by excited atoms.