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arXiv:1904.02386 · Physical Review A

Quantum mechanical virial-like theorem for confined quantum systems

Neetik Mukherjee, Amlan K. Roy

Published Feb 22, 2019• 16 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Confinement of atoms inside impenetrable (hard) and penetrable (soft) cavities has been studied for nearly eight decades. However, a unified virial theorem for such systems has not yet been found. Here we provide a general virial-like equation in terms of mean square and expectation values of potential and kinetic energy operators. It appears to be applicable in both free and confined situations. Apart from that, we have derived an equation using the time-independent Schr\"odinger equation, which can be treated as a sufficient condition for a given stationary quantum state. A change of boundary condition does not affect these virial equations. In the hard confining condition, the perturbing (confining potential) does not affect the expression; it merely shifts the boundary from infinity to a finite region. In the soft case, on the contrary, the final expression includes contributions from the perturbing term. These are demonstrated numerically for several representative enclosed systems like harmonic oscillators (one-dimensional and three-dimensional) and hydrogen atoms. Its applicability in various other confinements (including angular) has been discussed. In essence, a virial equation has been proposed for free and confined quantum systems, from simple arguments.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.99.022123

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Confinement of atoms inside impenetrable (hard) and penetrable (soft) cavities has been studied for nearly eight decades. However, a unified virial theorem for such systems has not yet been found. Here we provide a general virial-like equation in terms of mean square and expectation values of potential and kinetic energy operators. It appears to be applicable in both free and confined situations. Apart from that, we have derived an equation using the time-independent Schr"odinger equation, which can be treated as a sufficient condition for a given stationary quantum state. A change of boundary condition does not affect these virial equations. In the hard confining condition, the perturbing (confining potential) does not affect the expression; it merely shifts the boundary from infinity to a finite region. In the soft case, on the contrary, the final expression includes contributions from the perturbing term. These are demonstrated numerically for several representative enclosed systems like harmonic oscillators (one-dimensional and three-dimensional) and hydrogen atoms. Its applicability in various other confinements (including angular) has been discussed. In essence, a virial equation has been proposed for free and confined quantum systems, from simple arguments.
New objective formulations of the quantum virial theorem rise from a parallelism drawn with d'Alembert'sprinciple. In particular, boundary conditions correspond to constraints whose virial give a complementary term to the usual formulation of the quantum virial theorem. Two examples are examined. first the non-Coulombic and nonperiodical harmonic oscillator for which all the virials can be calculated and compared; second the periodical sine-shaped potential connected with Mathieu'sfunctions, for which only the complementary term due to the cyclic conditions is investigated, showing that its importance is varying from zero to twice the mean kinetic energy when the amplitude of the interaction is vanishing, in the limiting free-electron case. A remark is also made about normalization and the use of mean energy values over a part of space, when mathematical integration is stoped on a surface (partitioning of a molecule, for example) or on a cell in periodical solid-state problems.
Quantum confinement is studied by numerically solving time-dependent (TD) Schrödinger equation (SE). An imaginary-time evolution technique is employed in conjunction with the minimization of an expectation value, to reach the global minimum. Excited states are obtained by imposing the orthogonality constraint with all lower states. Applications are made on three important model quantum systems, namely, harmonic, repulsive and quartic oscillators; enclosed inside an impenetrable box. The resulting diffusion equation is solved using finite-difference method. Both symmetric and asymmetric confinement are considered for attractive potential; for others only symmetrical confinement. Accurate eigenvalue, eigenfunction and position expectation values are obtained, which show excellent agreement with existing literature results. Variation of energies with respect to box length is followed for small, intermediate and large sizes. In essence, a simple accurate and reliable method is proposed for confinement in quantum systems.
Most introductory books on quantum mechanics discuss the particle-in-a-box problem through solutions of the Schrödinger equation, at least, in the one-dimensional case. When introducing the virial theorem, however, its discussion in the context of this simple model is not considered and students ponder the question of the validity of the virial theorem for a system with, apparently, no forces. In this work, we address this issue by solving the particle in a finite box and show that the virial theorem is fulfilled when the appropriate Cauchy boundary conditions are taken into account. We also illustrate how, in the limit of the infinite potential box, the virial theorem holds as well. As a consequence, it is possible to determine the averaged force exerted by the walls on the particle. Finally, a discussion of these results in the classical limit is provided.
We investigate the particle and kinetic-energy densities for a system of N fermions confined in a potential V (r). In an earlier paper (Brack and Murthy 2003 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 36 1111), some exact and asymptotic relations involving the particle density and the kinetic-energy density locally, i.e. at any given point r, were derived for isotropic harmonic oscillators in arbitrary dimensions. In this paper, we show that these local virial theorems (LVTs) also hold exactly for linear potentials in arbitrary dimensions and for the one-dimensional box. We also investigate the validity of these LVTs when they are applied to arbitrary smooth potentials. We formulate generalized LVTs that are suggested by a semiclassical theory which relates the density oscillations to the closed non-periodic orbits of the classical system. We test the validity of these generalized theorems numerically for various local potentials. Although formally they are only valid asymptotically for large particle numbers N, we show that practically they are surprisingly accurate also for moderate values of N.
We investigate the particle and kinetic-energy densities for a system of NNN fermions confined in a potential $V(\bfr)$. In an earlier paper [J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. {\bf 36}, 1111 (2003)], some exact and asymptotic relations involving the particle density and the kinetic-energy density locally, i.e. at any given point $\bfr$, were derived for isotropic harmonic oscillators in arbitrary dimensions. In this paper we show that these {\it local virial theorems} (LVT) also hold exactly for linear potentials in arbitrary dimensions and for the one-dimensional box. We also investigate the validity of these LVTs when they are applied to arbitrary smooth potentials. We formulate generalized LVTs that are supported by a semiclassical theory which relates the density oscillations to the closed non-periodic orbits of the classical system. We test the validity of these generalized theorems numerically for various local potentials. Although they formally are only valid asymptotically for large particle numbers NNN, we show that they practically are surprisingly accurate also for moderate values of NNN.
The quantum dynamics of a hydrogen-like atom confined in one-dimensional box with oscillating walls is studied.The description of the system is reduced to a one-dimensional Schrödinger equation for Coulomb potential with time-dependent boundary conditions, which is solved numerically.Using the obtained solution, the average kinetic energy and binding energies are calculated as a function of time.It is found that both the average kinetic energy and the binding energies are periodic in time with the period depending on the wall's oscillation parameters.The probability density is also analyzed as a function of time and coordinate.