The principle of stationary variance is advocated as a viable variational approach to quantum field theory (QFT). The method is based on the principle that the variance of energy should be at its minimum when the state of a quantum system reaches its best approximation for an eigenstate. While not too much popular in quantum mechanics (QM), the method is shown to be valuable in QFT and three special examples are given in very different areas ranging from Heisenberg model of antiferromagnetism (AF) to quantum electrodynamics (QED) and gauge theories.
The principle of stationary variance is advocated as a viable variational approach to quantum field theory (QFT). The method is based on the principle that the variance of energy should be at its minimum when the state of a quantum system reaches its best approximation for an eigenstate. While not too much popular in quantum mechanics (QM), the method is shown to be valuable in QFT and three special examples are given in very different areas ranging from Heisenberg model of antiferromagnetism (AF) to quantum electrodynamics (QED) and gauge theories.
For many years we have advocated a form of quantum mechanics based on the application of sum rule methods (completeness) to the equations of motion and to the commutation relations, i.e., to Heisenberg matrix mechanics. Sporadically we have discussed or alluded to a variational foundation for this method. In this paper we present a series of variational principles applicable to a range of systems from one-dimensional quantum mechanics to quantum fields. The common thread is that the stationary quantity is the trace of the Hamiltonian over Hilbert space (or over a subspace of interest in an approximation) expressed as a functional of matrix elements of the elementary operators of the theory. These parameters are constrained by the kinematical relations of the theory introduced by the method of Lagrange multipliers. For the field theories, variational principles in which matrix elements of the density operators are chosen as fundamental are also developed. A qualitative discussion of applications is presented.
We investigate the use of different variational principles in quantum Monte Carlo, namely, energy and variance minimization, prompted by the interest in the robust and accurate estimation of electronic excited states. For two prototypical, challenging molecules, we readily reach the accuracy of the best available reference excitation energies using energy minimization in a state-specific or state-average fashion for states of different or equal symmetry, respectively. On the other hand, in variance minimization, where the use of suitable functionals is expected to target specific states regardless of the symmetry, we encounter severe problems for a variety of wave functions: as the variance converges, the energy drifts away from that of the selected state. This unexpected behavior is sometimes observed even when the target is the ground state and generally prevents the robust estimation of total and excitation energies. We analyze this problem using a very simple wave function and infer that the optimization finds little or no barrier to escape from a local minimum or local plateau, eventually converging to a lower-variance state instead of the target state. For the increasingly complex systems becoming in reach of quantum Monte Carlo simulations, variance minimization with current functionals appears to be an impractical route.
The prevalent role of force in traditional quantum mechanics is outlined, with special reference to approximate calculations for stationary states. It will be explored how far this force concept can be made useful in the concerned area. The basic idea is to differentiate the Schroedinger stationary equation once. Thus, one can eliminate the unknown energy as well, and then examine how a force-based approach can be beneficial in providing quickly the nodal information and in assessing the quality of an approximate function. Further, it will be demonstrated how the minimization of a suitable quantity derived from force may constitute a variational principle for bound states. The strategy applies also to Siegert states where traditional energy extremization principle ceases to work. Additionally, the utility of the force concept in semiclassical mechanics will be investigated.
In this chapter, we present some fundamental issues about approximation methods that are often used when a quantum-mechanical system is perturbed and about the relationship between classical and quantum mechanics. In Sec. 10.1 we introduce the stationary perturbation theory, while Sec. 10.2 is devoted to time-dependent perturbations. In Sec. 10.3 we briefly examine the adiabatic theorem. In Sec. 10.4 we introduce the variation method, an approximation method that is not based on perturbation theory. In Sec. 10.5 we discuss the classical limit of the quantum-mechanical equations, whereas in Sec. 10.6 we deal with the semiclassical approximation, in particular the WKB method. On the basis of the previous approximation methods in Sec. 10.7 we present scattering theory. Finally, in Sec. 10.8 we treat a method that has a wide range of applications: the path-integral method. Stationary perturbation theory Perturbation theory is a rather general approximation method that may be applied when a small additional force (the perturbation) acts on a system (the unperturbed system), whose quantum dynamics is fully known. If the disturbance is small, it modifies both the energy levels and the stationary states. This allows us to make an expansion in power series of a perturbation parameter, which is assumed to be small. Perturbation theory may be applied both to the case where the additional force is time-independent (in which case a stationary treatment suffices – the subject of the present section) as well as to the case where it explicitly depends on time.
Abstract The principles of the quantum are, as is well known, not compatible with classical dynamics and electrodynamics, nor, indeed, with the extended dynamics and electrodynamics of the theory of relativity, although they do not appear to violate the principles of the theory of relativity themselves. The chief hypothesis of the quantum theory, and the one which is most at variance with classical theories, is the hypothesis of stationary states, and this is so well established by experimental evidence that it can hardly be doubted that some parts of the classical electrodynamics, at any rate, will have to be given up or modified. In the present communication, a more general form of the postulate, put fonvard by the writer some years ago, will be described, which facilitates the application of the quantum theory to problems such as that of the Zeeman phenomenon, involving magnetic fields, and restricts the region within which the classical and quantum theories are in conflict. The postulates of the quantum theory, in its present state, are as follows:— (i) Atoms, or other systems contemplated by the quantum theory, can only exist normally in one or other of certain states called stationary states. While in one of its stationary states the atom does not emit or absorb energy. This is the chief postulate of Bohr’s theory of spectra.
Abstract Introduced as a quantum extension of Maxwell's classical theory, quantum electrodynamic (QED) has been the first example of a quantum field theory (QFT). Eventually, QFT has become the framework for the discussion of all fundamental interactions at the microscopic scale except, possibly, gravity. More surprisingly, it has also provided a framework for the understanding of second order phase transitions in statistical mechanics. In fact, as hopefully this work illustrates, QFT is the natural framework for the discussion of most systems involving an infinite number of degrees of freedom with local couplings. These systems range from cold Bose gases at the condensation temperature (about ten nanokelvin) to conventional phase transitions (from a few degrees to several hundred) and high energy particle physics up to a TeV, altogether more than twenty orders of magnitude in the energy scale. Therefore, although excellent textbooks about QFT had already been published, I thought, many years ago, that it might not be completely worthless to present a work in which the strong formal relations between particle physics and the theory of critical phenomena are systematically emphasized. This option explains some of the choices made in the presentation. A formulation in terms of field integrals has been adopted to study the properties of QFT. The language of partition and correlation functions has been used throughout, even in applications of QFT to particle physics. Renormalization and renormalization group (RG) properties are systematically discussed. The notion of effective field theory (EFT) and the emergence of renormalizable theories are described. The consequences for fine-tuning and triviality issue are emphasized. This fifth edition has been updated and fully revised.