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> madhadron doens't know what he's talking about.

Not sure why you're saying this when you end up saying pretty much what madhadron said, i.e.: "To be excruciatingly precise, it's a ray in Hilbert space"

I get that madhadron doesn't explain themselves but still... There's some irony here.



Because the difference between a ray and a vector is so minor that the words are effectively interchangeable, and in actual practice the word "vector" is invariably used. No one ever talks about the "quantum state ray." It is always the "quantum state vector."

Also, simply saying "no it isn't" with no further explanation in response to any comment just obnoxious. It's essentially saying, "You're wrong, and I know why you're wrong, but I'm not going to tell you." It's not constructive, and anyone who does it deserves to be smacked down hard, even if there might be a tiny nugget of truth hiding underneath their oblique self-aggrandizement.


> anyone who does it deserves to be smacked down hard

I was trying to hint that there was something you were overlooking in your explanation. Probably not an effective tactic in this medium.

But thanks to your fine example, I will in future make sure to lay out things in exquisite detail while belittling the person I am replying to.


No, I hadn't overlooked it. I was providing an answer appropriate to the audience and the context. And that answer was actually correct. Not only was your answer not constructive, it was also flat-out wrong.




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