The definition of state in the stochastic variational treatment of quantum mechanics

Marc-Thierry Jaekel

The stochastic variational principle which applies to diffusions and extremises the mean value of the classical action is generalised to include non-Markovian diffusions. A whole family of different stochastic actions, labelled by a time-dependent parameter, is obtained and all of them are shown to lead to the Shrodinger equation. As a result, the well known degeneracy of the class of stochastic processes which correspond to a single quantum state is recovered. It is also related to an arbitrariness in the choice of the noise which can occur in two places: in the definition of the noise, through the time-dependent parameter, and in the auto-correlations of the noise which, although constant during the variational method, remain undetermined. The whole scheme is given a covariant form.

Kurt O. Friedrichs

Mikio Namiki, Satoshi Tanaka

Loïc Joubert-Doriol, Ilya G. Ryabinkin, Artur F. Izmaylov

We propose an extension of the Schrödinger equation for a quantum system interacting with environment. This extension describes dynamics of a collection of auxiliary wavefunctions organized as a matrix m, from which the system density matrix can be reconstructed as ρ̂=mm(†). We formulate a compatibility condition, which ensures that the reconstructed density satisfies a given quantum master equation for the system density. The resulting non-stochastic evolution equation preserves positive-definiteness of the system density and is applicable to both Markovian and non-Markovian system-bath treatments. Our formalism also resolves a long-standing problem of energy loss in the time-dependent variational principle applied to mixed states of closed systems.

Mikio Namiki

Juan S. Jerez‐Rodriguez, Eric S. Escobar-Aguilar, Tonatiuh Matos

Abstract This work explores the possibility of applying stochastic quantum mechanics to curved spacetimes, with an emphasis on the Schwarzschild black hole. After reviewing the fundamental concepts of this approach, the quantum stochastic equations are extended to curved spacetime using a fully covariant treatment. Subsequently, the Klein-Gordon equation is solved for scalar perturbations, and the resulting stochastic trajectories are analyzed by varying parameters such as angular momentum, particle frequency, and computational integration time. In conclusion, we find that the trajectories are influenced by gravitational fluctuations in spacetime and that, depending on the variation of the fundamental parameters, different types of stochastic trajectories are obtained.