PROCEEDINGS OF THE 21ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2018
San Diego, California
Quantum Physics Students’ Reasoning about Eigenvectors and Eigenvalues
Page: 1710
Eigentheory is an important mathematical tool for modeling quantum mechanical systems, but little is known about how physics students reason about eigenvectors and eigenvalues as they transition from linear algebra courses into quantum mechanics. In this poster, we share examples of the resources (elements of students’ knowledge) we have identified in physics students’ reasoning about the eigenvectors and eigenvalues of real 2x2 matrices, as well as connections among these resources within and across students