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Journal of the Physical Society of Japan

Wigner and Husimi Functions in Quantum Mechanics

Kin’ya Takahashi

Published Mar 15, 1986• 130 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The quantum dynamics in Husimi representation is studied for the commutation relation, time development of distribution function and eigen distribution function. In the integrable system, the Husimi eigen distribution function is confined almost on the classical torus and can be approximated by Gaussian distribution with the variance \((\Delta\xi_{l})^{2}{\sim}\hbar/2\) around the torus. Further, considering the correspondence between quantum and classical mechanics, the Husimi distribution function is a better representation than the Wigner distribution function, because coarse graining is usually involved in observational process.

DOI
10.1143/jpsj.55.762

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Abstract This paper considers a Husimi representation of quantum mechanics in which the (stationary) state of a system or ensemble is described by a Husimi function and an observable is described by a phase space function or distribution such that the expectation value of the observable is given by an integral over phase space of the product of that function or distribution and the Husimi function. The density matrix, Wigner function, and Husimi function are considered to be alternative ways of describing the state of a system or ensemble, and methods of recovering the Wigner function or density matrix from the Husimi function are discussed. The classical limits of the Wigner and Husimi functions and of the relationship between them are considered. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
This thesis describes quantum mechanics in the phase space formulation. We introduce quantization and in particular the Weyl quantization. We study a general class of phase space distribution functions on phase space. The Wigner distribution function is one such distribution function. The Wigner distribution function in general attains negative values and thus can not be interpreted as a real probability density, as opposed to for example the Husimi distribution function. The Husimi distribution however does not yield the correct marginal distribution functions known from quantum mechanics. Properties of the Wigner and Husimi distribution function are studied to more extent. We calculate the Wigner and Husimi distribution function for the energy eigenstates of a particle trapped in a box. We then look at the semi classical limit for this example. The time evolution of Wigner functions are studied by making use of the Moyal bracket. The Moyal bracket and the Poisson bracket are compared in the classical limit. The phase space formulation of quantum mechanics has as advantage that classical concepts can be studied and compared to quantum mechanics. For certain quantum mechanical systems the time evolution of Wigner distribution functions becomes equivalent to the classical time evolution stated in the exact Egerov theorem. Another advantage of using Wigner functions is when one is interested in systems involving mixed states. A disadvantage of the phase space formulation is that for most problems it quickly loses its simplicity and becomes hard to calculate.
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