We investigate the quantum mechanics of a single particle constrained to move along an arbitrary smooth reference curve by a confinement that is allowed to vary along the waveguide. The Schr\"odinger equation is evaluated in the adapted coordinate frame and a transverse-mode decomposition is performed, taking into account both curvature and torsion effects and the possibility of a cross-section potential that changes along the curve in an arbitrary way. We discuss the adiabatic structure of the problem, and examine nonadiabatic couplings that arise due to the curved geometry, the varying transverse profile, and their interplay. The exact multimode matrix Hamiltonian is taken as the natural starting point for few-mode approximations. Such approximate equations are provided, and it is worked out how these recover known results for twisting waveguides and can be applied to other types of waveguide designs. The quantum waveguide Hamiltonian is recast into a form that clearly illustrates how it generalizes the Born-Oppenheimer Hamiltonian encountered in molecular physics. In analogy to the latter, we explore the local gauge structure inherent to the quantum waveguide problem and suggest the usefulness of diabatic states, giving an explicit construction of the adiabatic-to-diabatic basis transformation.
We investigate the quantum mechanics of a single particle constrained to move along an arbitrary smooth reference curve by a confinement that is allowed to vary along the waveguide. The Schr"odinger equation is evaluated in the adapted coordinate frame and a transverse-mode decomposition is performed, taking into account both curvature and torsion effects and the possibility of a cross-section potential that changes along the curve in an arbitrary way. We discuss the adiabatic structure of the problem, and examine nonadiabatic couplings that arise due to the curved geometry, the varying transverse profile, and their interplay. The exact multimode matrix Hamiltonian is taken as the natural starting point for few-mode approximations. Such approximate equations are provided, and it is worked out how these recover known results for twisting waveguides and can be applied to other types of waveguide designs. The quantum waveguide Hamiltonian is recast into a form that clearly illustrates how it generalizes the Born-Oppenheimer Hamiltonian encountered in molecular physics. In analogy to the latter, we explore the local gauge structure inherent to the quantum waveguide problem and suggest the usefulness of diabatic states, giving an explicit construction of the adiabatic-to-diabatic basis transformation.
We investigate the effective dynamics of a particle confined near a space curve. In the strict thin-layer reduction of the nondegenerate transverse ground state, torsion does not enter the local effective Hamiltonian, which contains only the curvature-induced scalar geometric potential. In contrast, for a thin guide with finite transverse width, a leading-order adiabatic projection onto the twofold-degenerate first-excited transverse band renders the rotation of the Frenet normal frame dynamically relevant and generates a matrix-valued Abelian gauge potential. Using a projection-based derivation in a co-rotating Frenet-frame basis, we show that this effective gauge potential is directly determined by the local torsion of the curve. The resulting effective Hamiltonian takes a gauge-covariant form and produces two transverse-mode branches whose parabolic dispersions are shifted in opposite directions in momentum space. For closed curves, the associated holonomy is controlled by the integrated torsion and leads to geometric interference. These results provide a direct realization of a Wilczek--Zee-type connection induced purely by spatial geometry in curved quantum waveguides. We further construct a classical-wave analogue using the degenerate bending modes of an isotropic elastic rod, demonstrating that the same torsion-induced gauge structure appears in continuum wave physics.
A simple one-dimensional differential equation in the centerline coordinate of an arbitrarily curved quantum waveguide with a varying cross section is derived using a combination of differential geometry and perturbation theory. The model can tackle curved quantum waveguides with a cross-sectional shape and dimensions that vary along the axis. The present analysis generalizes previous models that are restricted to either straight waveguides with a varying cross-section or curved waveguides, where the shape and dimensions of the cross section are fixed. We carry out full 2D wave simulations on a number of complex waveguide geometries and demonstrate excellent agreement with the eigenstates and energies obtained using our present 1D model. It is shown that the computational benefit in using the present 1D model to calculate both 2D and 3D wave solutions is significant and allows for the fast optimization of complex quantum waveguide design. The derived 1D model renders direct access as to how quantum waveguide eigenstates depend on varying cross-sectional dimensions, the waveguide curvature, and rotation of the cross-sectional frame. In particular, a gauge transformation reveals that the individual effects of curvature, thickness variation, and frame rotation correspond to separate terms in a geometric potential only. Generalization of the present formalism to electromagnetics and acoustics, accounting appropriately for the relevant boundary conditions, is anticipated.
In this paper, we present a geometric perspective on how to quantify the bending and the twisting of quantum curves traced by state vectors evolving under nonstationary Hamiltonians. Specifically, relying on the existing geometric viewpoint for stationary Hamiltonians, we discuss the generalization of our theoretical construct to time-dependent quantum-mechanical scenarios where both time-varying curvature and torsion coefficients play a key role. Specifically, we present a quantum version of the Frenet–Serret apparatus for a quantum trajectory in projective Hilbert space traced out by a parallel-transported pure quantum state evolving unitarily under a time-dependent Hamiltonian specifying the Schrödinger evolution equation. The time-varying curvature coefficient is specified by the magnitude squared of the covariant derivative of the tangent vector [Formula: see text] to the state vector [Formula: see text] and measures the bending of the quantum curve. The time-varying torsion coefficient, instead, is given by the magnitude squared of the projection of the covariant derivative of the tangent vector [Formula: see text] to the state vector [Formula: see text], orthogonal to [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] and, in addition, measures the twisting of the quantum curve. We find that the time-varying setting exhibits a richer structure from a statistical standpoint. For instance, unlike the time-independent configuration, we find that the notion of generalized variance enters nontrivially in the definition of the torsion of a curve traced out by a quantum state evolving under a nonstationary Hamiltonian. To physically illustrate the significance of our construct, we apply it to an exactly soluble time-dependent two-state Rabi problem specified by a sinusoidal oscillating time-dependent potential. In this context, we show that the analytical expressions for the curvature and torsion coefficients are completely described by only two real three-dimensional vectors, the Bloch vector that specifies the quantum system and the externally applied time-varying magnetic field. Although we show that the torsion is identically zero for an arbitrary time-dependent single-qubit Hamiltonian evolution, we study the temporal behavior of the curvature coefficient in different dynamical scenarios, including off-resonance and on-resonance regimes and, in addition, strong and weak driving configurations. While our formalism applies to pure quantum states in arbitrary dimensions, the analytic derivation of associated curvatures and orbit simulations can become quite involved as the dimension increases. Thus, finally we briefly comment on the possibility of applying our geometric formalism to higher-dimensional qudit systems that evolve unitarily under a general nonstationary Hamiltonian.
The propagation of matter waves in curved geometry is relevant for ion transport, atomtronics and electrons in nanowires. Curvature effects are usually addressed within the adiabatic limit and treated via an effective potential acting on the manifold to which the particles are strongly confined. However, the strength of the confinements that can be achieved experimentally are limited in practice, and the adiabatic approximation often appears too restrictive for realistic guides. Here, we work out a design method for 2D sharply bent waveguides beyond this approximation using an exact inverse-engineering technique. The efficiency of the method is confirmed by the resolution of the 2D nonlinear Schrödinger equation in curved geometry. In this way, we realize reflectionless and ultrarobust curved guides, even in the presence of interactions. Here, the transverse stability is improved by several orders of magnitude when compared to circular guides of similar size.
We consider particles constrained to move in the close vicinity of a space curve through a steep quadratic potential in the plane normal to the curve. As is known, the effective 1D Hamiltonian that governs the motion along the curve involves both its curvature and torsion. Thus, the adiabatic cyclic deformations of the curve might give rise to geometric phases being accumulated by the particle. We report that this is indeed, in general, the case, and analyze in detail the origin of the phases, as described in both an inertial Cartesian frame and a noninertial one, adapted to the curve. We extend previous work to include non-locally arclength preserving deformations, and derive general formulas for Berry’s curvature in this case.
We study the quantum dynamics of a particle confined in a twisted tube with a linearly varying cross section. By relating a general linear transformation matrix to the system's Hamiltonian, we use an extended thin-layer method to derive an effective Hamiltonian for tangential motion under mild and general linear transformations. Explicit forms are provided for three fundamental transformations: rotation, scaling, and shearing. Rotation introduces a gauge field coupled to angular momentum, while scaling and shearing produce geometric potentials that lift degeneracies in non-circular cross sections. In square cross sections, these transformations cause energy splittings among formerly degenerate states, whereas circular cross sections retain degeneracy. Through an example combining rotation and squeezing, we analyze state evolution and compute the quantum geometric tensor to quantify geometric response. Our results demonstrate how geometric transformations can tailor quantum states and suggest that circular waveguides are more robust against mode mixing.