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arXiv:1408.1623

A new method for analyzing the time evolution of quantum mechanical systems

Chyi-Lung Lin, Tsin-Fu Jiang

Published Aug 7, 2014• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We show a new method for analyzing the time evolution of the Schrodinger wave function phi(x,t). We propose the decomposition of the Hamiltonian as: H(t)=Hp(t)+Hc(t), where Hp(t)is the operator which does not change the state and therefore phi(x,t) is its eigenfunction, and Hc(t)is the operator that changes the state. With this decomposition, the time evolution of a wave function can be understood more clearly via the operator Hc(t). We illustrate this method by exactly solving the system of driven harmonic oscillator. We show that nonspreading wave packets exist in this system in addition to historically known paradigms. This method can be applied to analyze the time evolution of general Hamiltonian systems as well.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1408.1623

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We show a new method for analyzing the time evolution of the Schrodinger wave function phi(x,t). We propose the decomposition of the Hamiltonian as: H(t)=Hp(t)+Hc(t), where Hp(t)is the operator which does not change the state and therefore phi(x,t) is its eigenfunction, and Hc(t)is the operator that changes the state. With this decomposition, the time evolution of a wave function can be understood more clearly via the operator Hc(t). We illustrate this method by exactly solving the system of driven harmonic oscillator. We show that nonspreading wave packets exist in this system in addition to historically known paradigms. This method can be applied to analyze the time evolution of general Hamiltonian systems as well.
We show a new method for analyzing the time evolution of the Schrodinger wave function Psi(x,t). We propose the decomposition of the Hamiltonian as: H(t)=Hp(t)+Hc(t), where Hp(t) is the Hamiltonian such that Psi(x,t) is its instantaneous eigenfunction, and Hc(t) the Hamiltonian which changes the state Psi. With this decomposition, the action of H(t) on the wave function is simplified and the Schrodinger equation is in a simpler form which can be solved more easily. We illustrate this method by exactly solving the Schrodinger equation for cases of nonspreading wave packets. This method can be applied as well to analyzing the time evolution of general Hamiltonian systems.
A method based off of operator consideration for solving the time evolution of a wave function is developed. The method is applied to free space, constant force and harmonic oscillator potentials where general solutions are derived for the wave function time evolutions for these potentials. Solving the Heisenberg equations of motion is discussed. A method to obtain exact solutions to Heisenberg's equations of motion is developed based off of solutions of classical equations of motion. Approximation methods for the time evolution of operators and wave functions are developed. A connection between classical and quantum chaos is made where it is realized that whenever a classical system behaves chaotically, the quantum system will as well.
We show the method for constructing nonspreading wave packets whose shape and motion can be general. We analyze the time evolution of nonspreading wave packets by decomposing the Hamiltonian into two parts. Of the two, one changes the instantaneous state, the other does not. Through this decomposition, the time evolution operator is shown to be effectively a spatial shifting operator. This explains why nonspreading wave packets can be nonspreading. And we show that the part of the Hamiltonian which changes the instantaneous state governs the motion of the nonspreading wave packets.
There is a widespread belief in the quantum physical community, and in textbooks used to teach Quantum Mechanics, that it is a difficult task to apply the time evolution operator on an initial wave function. That is to say, because the hamiltonian operator generally is the sum of two operators, then it is a difficult task to apply the time evolution operator on an initial wave function, because it implies to apply terms like (A+B)^n. A possible solution of this problem is to factorize the time evolution operator and then apply successively the individual exponential operator on the initial wave function. However, the exponential operator does not directly factorize. In this work we present useful ways to factorizing the time evolution operator when the argument of the exponential is a sum of two operators which obey specific commutation relations. Then, we apply the exponential operator as an evolution operator for the case of elementary unidimensional potentials, like the harmonic oscillator. Also, we argue about an apparent paradox concerning the time evolution operator and non-spreading wave packets addressed in previous papers published in this Journal. Finally, we discuss the possible insight that can be learned using this approach in teaching Quantum Mechanics.
The postulates of quantum mechanics associate the time-evolution of a system with its time-dependent Schrödinger equation. We start by examining different solutions to this equation for a particle, represented in terms of a Gaussian wave packet, in different scenarios: free, scattered from a potential energy barrier, or trapped in a potential energy well. In some cases, we encounter stationary solutions, in which the probability density does not change in time (a standing wave). These solutions are identified as eigenfunctions of a system Hamiltonian. The properties of the Hamiltonian as a Hermitian operator are introduced, and particularly, the fact that its proper eigenfunctions can compose an orthonormal set, and that the corresponding eigenvalues are real-valued. Learning that all operators that relate to measurables are Hermitian, and that their eigenvalues relate to the measured values, we conclude that the eigenvalues of the energy operator (Hamiltonian) are the energy levels of the quantum system.