Searching for Bloch wave packets with almost definite momentum direction
Arseni Goussev, G. V. Morozov
The motion of a quantum particle in a one-dimensional periodic potential can be described in terms of Bloch wave packets. Like free-particle wave packets, they can propagate without attenuation. Here, we examine this similarity more closely by investigating whether Bloch wave packets can maintain a definite -- or nearly definite -- momentum direction, a property inherent to free-particle wave packets. This question is particularly relevant to the feasibility of using solid-state-based systems in the search for the first experimental realization of quantum backflow, a quantum interference effect in which a particle's probability density flows in a direction opposite to its momentum.
arXiv:2504.12489•Physical Review A•Sep 4, 2025•2 citations