Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1112.0757

The evolution of quantal uncertainties in at most quadratic potentials

Natascha Riahi

Published Dec 4, 2011• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We investigate the time evolution of momentum and position uncertainties for wave packets of arbitrary shape in at most quadratic potentials. We consider all possible cases of potentials and initial conditions. Doing so we see that the mixed uncertainty and for Gaussian wave packets moreover the chirp are convenient and important tools to identify the characteristic features of uncertainty dynamics. Special attention is given to the spreading and narrowing of wave packets.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1112.0757

Related papers

Dynamics of uncertainties for bound one-dimensional semiclassical wave packets

Predrag Punoševac, Sam L. Robinson

We study the time evolution of the uncertainties Δx and Δp in position and momentum, respectively, associated with the semiclassical propagation of certain Gaussian initial states. We show that these quantities behave generically as P1(t)+tP2(t), where P1 and P2 are periodic in time with period that of an underlying classical trajectory. We also show that, despite the overall (generically quadratic) growth in time, the uncertainty product ΔxΔp achieves its minimum of ħ/2 at arbitrarily large times.

Journal of Mathematical Physics•Sep 1, 2016•5 citations

Quantizing the Quantum Uncertainty

Etera R. Livine

The spread of the wave-function, or quantum uncertainty, is a key notion in quantum mechanics. At leading order, it is characterized by the quadratic moments of the position and momentum operators. These evolve and fluctuate independently from the position and momentum expectation values. They are extra degrees of quantum mechanics compared to classical mechanics, and encode the shape of wave-packets. Following the logic that quantum mechanics must be lifted to quantum field theory, we discuss the quantization of the quantum uncertainty as an operator acting on wave-functions over field space and derive its discrete spectrum, inherited from the $\textrm{sl}_{2}$ Lie algebra formed by the operators $\hat{x}^{2}$, $\hat{p}^{2}$ and $\widehat{xp}$. We further show how this spectrum appears in the value of the coupling of the effective conformal potential driving the evolution of extended Gaussian wave-packets according to Schrödinger equation, with the quantum uncertainty playing the same role as an effective intrinsic angular momentum. We conclude with an open question: is it possible to see experimental signatures of the quantization of the quantum uncertainty in non-relativistic physics, which would signal the departure from quantum mechanics to a QFT regime?

arXiv:2307.01061•Jul 3, 2023•0 citations

On the motion of a Gaussian wave-packet in a parabolic potential field

Charles Alfred Coulson, George Stanley Rushbrooke

The paper deals with the motion of a Gaussian wave-packet in a parabolic potential field, contrasting the quantum-mechanical behaviour of the packet with that which follows from pure classical mechanics. The behaviour is entirely classical only if the initial phase of the space-wave-function is linear in the space coordinate; in which case the wave-packet is initially a ‘best-possible’ packet according to Heisenberg's uncertainty relationship. The paper concludes with a brief reference to the similar problem for a free particle. Note added in Proof, 16 February 1946. Through the courtesy of Mr M. S. Bartlett, we have been privileged to see the manuscripts of some work by Mr J. E. Moyal and himself, in which the motion of a probability wave-packet is discussed in more general terms than our own: and in which it appears that the motion of our wave-packet, which we have described as non-classical, is indeed actually classical provided that a certain correlation exists between momentum and position in the p, q-distribution function. With this knowledge we now find that classical and quantal predictions agree precisely provided that the initial classical probability function is given by this is a particular case of their more general results.

Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society•Oct 1, 1946•2 citations

Invariant operators for quadratic Hamiltonians

Mark Andrews

The motion of wave packets can be easily determined for any Hamiltonian that is quadratic in position and momentum, even if the coefficients of the terms in the Hamiltonian vary with time. The method is based on the existence of an invariant operator, linear in position and momentum, the coefficients of these operators being solutions of the corresponding classical system. This immediately yields a set of very simple wave packets whose evolution is easily determined, and whose magnitude has the same form as the energy eigenfunctions of the harmonic oscillator (i.e., Gaussian or Hermite–Gaussian). This set provides a complete basis for finding the evolution of any state and the exact propagator is readily determined. For the harmonic oscillator, this set includes coherent states, squeezed states, displaced number states, and squeezed number states as special cases. The following important properties hold for every quadratic Hamiltonian, no matter what time dependence is present in the Hamiltonian: (1) The motion of the centroid of any wave packet separates from that of any moments relative to the centroid. (2) Every detail of the evolution of the quantum system can be calculated from the solutions of the corresponding classical system. (3) Wave functions of Gaussian (or Hermite–Gaussian) form will retain that form as they evolve.

American Journal of Physics•Apr 1, 1999•23 citations

Evolution of the wave function's shape in a time-dependent harmonic potential

Etera R. Livine

Abstract An effective operational approach to quantum mechanics is to focus on the evolution of wave packets, for which the wave function can be seen in the semi-classical regime as representing a classical motion dressed with extra degrees of freedom describing the shape of the wave packet and its fluctuations. These quantum dressing are independent degrees of freedom, mathematically encoded in the higher moments of the wave function. We review how to extract the effective dynamics for Gaussian wave packets evolving according to the Schrödinger equation with time-dependent potential in a 1 + 1-dimensional spacetime, and derive the equations of motion for the quadratic uncertainty. We then show how to integrate the evolution of all the higher moments for a general wave function in a time-dependent harmonic potential.

arXiv:2305.03847•Europhysics Letters (EPL)•Aug 1, 2023•2 citations

Dynamics of uncertainties for one-dimensional semiclassical wave packets: Isochronicity, scattering, and capture

Predrag Punoševac, Sam L. Robinson

We complete our study on the uncertainties in position and momentum associated with the semiclassical Hagedorn wave packets by first filling in a technical gap in the dynamics of bound states for isochronous potentials. We then consider scattered states and show that, if the packet is reflected from the potential or transmitted through a symmetric potential, then a minimal uncertainty “initial” state cannot in general lead to a “final” state with minimal uncertainty, and we give an explicit relationship for the difference in terms of a characteristic time associated with classical trajectories. We also characterize the behavior of the uncertainty product in the case where the underlying classical dynamics lead to capture by the potential.

Journal of Mathematical Physics•May 1, 2019•1 citation
We investigate the time evolution of momentum and position uncertainties for wave packets of arbitrary shape in at most quadratic potentials. We consider all possible cases of potentials and initial conditions. Doing so we see that the mixed uncertainty and for Gaussian wave packets moreover the chirp are convenient and important tools to identify the characteristic features of uncertainty dynamics. Special attention is given to the spreading and narrowing of wave packets.
We study the time evolution of the uncertainties Δx and Δp in position and momentum, respectively, associated with the semiclassical propagation of certain Gaussian initial states. We show that these quantities behave generically as P1(t)+tP2(t), where P1 and P2 are periodic in time with period that of an underlying classical trajectory. We also show that, despite the overall (generically quadratic) growth in time, the uncertainty product ΔxΔp achieves its minimum of ħ/2 at arbitrarily large times.
The spread of the wave-function, or quantum uncertainty, is a key notion in quantum mechanics. At leading order, it is characterized by the quadratic moments of the position and momentum operators. These evolve and fluctuate independently from the position and momentum expectation values. They are extra degrees of quantum mechanics compared to classical mechanics, and encode the shape of wave-packets. Following the logic that quantum mechanics must be lifted to quantum field theory, we discuss the quantization of the quantum uncertainty as an operator acting on wave-functions over field space and derive its discrete spectrum, inherited from the sl2\textrm{sl}_{2}sl2​ Lie algebra formed by the operators x^2\hat{x}^{2}x^2, p^2\hat{p}^{2}p^​2 and xp^\widehat{xp}xp​. We further show how this spectrum appears in the value of the coupling of the effective conformal potential driving the evolution of extended Gaussian wave-packets according to Schrödinger equation, with the quantum uncertainty playing the same role as an effective intrinsic angular momentum. We conclude with an open question: is it possible to see experimental signatures of the quantization of the quantum uncertainty in non-relativistic physics, which would signal the departure from quantum mechanics to a QFT regime?
The paper deals with the motion of a Gaussian wave-packet in a parabolic potential field, contrasting the quantum-mechanical behaviour of the packet with that which follows from pure classical mechanics. The behaviour is entirely classical only if the initial phase of the space-wave-function is linear in the space coordinate; in which case the wave-packet is initially a ‘best-possible’ packet according to Heisenberg's uncertainty relationship. The paper concludes with a brief reference to the similar problem for a free particle. Note added in Proof, 16 February 1946. Through the courtesy of Mr M. S. Bartlett, we have been privileged to see the manuscripts of some work by Mr J. E. Moyal and himself, in which the motion of a probability wave-packet is discussed in more general terms than our own: and in which it appears that the motion of our wave-packet, which we have described as non-classical, is indeed actually classical provided that a certain correlation exists between momentum and position in the p, q-distribution function. With this knowledge we now find that classical and quantal predictions agree precisely provided that the initial classical probability function is given by this is a particular case of their more general results.
The motion of wave packets can be easily determined for any Hamiltonian that is quadratic in position and momentum, even if the coefficients of the terms in the Hamiltonian vary with time. The method is based on the existence of an invariant operator, linear in position and momentum, the coefficients of these operators being solutions of the corresponding classical system. This immediately yields a set of very simple wave packets whose evolution is easily determined, and whose magnitude has the same form as the energy eigenfunctions of the harmonic oscillator (i.e., Gaussian or Hermite–Gaussian). This set provides a complete basis for finding the evolution of any state and the exact propagator is readily determined. For the harmonic oscillator, this set includes coherent states, squeezed states, displaced number states, and squeezed number states as special cases. The following important properties hold for every quadratic Hamiltonian, no matter what time dependence is present in the Hamiltonian: (1) The motion of the centroid of any wave packet separates from that of any moments relative to the centroid. (2) Every detail of the evolution of the quantum system can be calculated from the solutions of the corresponding classical system. (3) Wave functions of Gaussian (or Hermite–Gaussian) form will retain that form as they evolve.
Abstract An effective operational approach to quantum mechanics is to focus on the evolution of wave packets, for which the wave function can be seen in the semi-classical regime as representing a classical motion dressed with extra degrees of freedom describing the shape of the wave packet and its fluctuations. These quantum dressing are independent degrees of freedom, mathematically encoded in the higher moments of the wave function. We review how to extract the effective dynamics for Gaussian wave packets evolving according to the Schrödinger equation with time-dependent potential in a 1 + 1-dimensional spacetime, and derive the equations of motion for the quadratic uncertainty. We then show how to integrate the evolution of all the higher moments for a general wave function in a time-dependent harmonic potential.
We complete our study on the uncertainties in position and momentum associated with the semiclassical Hagedorn wave packets by first filling in a technical gap in the dynamics of bound states for isochronous potentials. We then consider scattered states and show that, if the packet is reflected from the potential or transmitted through a symmetric potential, then a minimal uncertainty “initial” state cannot in general lead to a “final” state with minimal uncertainty, and we give an explicit relationship for the difference in terms of a characteristic time associated with classical trajectories. We also characterize the behavior of the uncertainty product in the case where the underlying classical dynamics lead to capture by the potential.