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Journal of Physics A Mathematical and General

Random walks and Schrödinger's equation in dimensions

Garnet N. Ord, A. S. Deakin

Published Feb 7, 1997• 16 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Some recent results have shown that in addition to its role in quantum mechanics, the Schrödinger free particle equation in (1+1) dimensions describes second-order effects in ensembles of lattice random walks. This alternative classical context for Schrödinger's equation is independent of its role in quantum mechanics. In this paper we extend this result to include the case of Schrödinger's equation in (2+1) dimensions for a particle in a smooth bounded potential. The extension suggests that the new classical context of Schrödinger's equation is quite general.

DOI
10.1088/0305-4470/30/3/008

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Some recent results have shown that in addition to its role in quantum mechanics, the Schrödinger free particle equation in (1+1) dimensions describes second-order effects in ensembles of lattice random walks. This alternative classical context for Schrödinger's equation is independent of its role in quantum mechanics. In this paper we extend this result to include the case of Schrödinger's equation in (2+1) dimensions for a particle in a smooth bounded potential. The extension suggests that the new classical context of Schrödinger's equation is quite general.
The Schrödinger free particle equation in 1+1 dimension describes second-order effects in ensembles of lattice random walks, in addition to its role in quantum mechanics, and its solutions represent the continuous limit of a property of ensembles of Brownian particles. In the present paper, the classical Schrödinger and Dirac equations have been derived from the Brownian motions of a particle, and it has been shown that the classical Schrödinger equation can be transformed into the usual Schrödinger quantum equation on applying the Heisenberg uncertainty principle between position and momentum, while the Dirac quantum equation follows from its classical counterpart on applying the Heisenberg uncertainty principle between energy and time, without applying any analytical continuation.
In the context of quantum mechanics, Schrödinger's equation has many possible interpretations, none of which appear to be entirely satisfactory. One reason for this is that there is no known microscopic model which yields both Schrödinger's equation and an accompanying ‘sensible’ interpretation. In contrast to this the diffusion equation is well known as a phenomenological equation obtainable from the microscopic model of Brownian motion. In this case the microscopic model provides an unambiguous interpretation of the partial differential equation. In this article we review work which shows that Schrödinger's equation by itself is also easily obtained from a lattice random walk version of the Brownian motion model. In this system, Schrödinger's equation arises by projection and the interpretation of wave functions is as direct and unambiguous as the interpretation of density in the diffusion case. However the direct interpretation is compatible with quantum mechanics only in a statistical sense in the context of ensembles of particles. This shows that measurement theory is the aspect of quantum theory which harbours the problems of interpretation, and we suggest the study of this and related systems to clearly illuminate the boundary between dynamics and measurement.
Though classical random walks have been studied for many years, research concerning their quantum analogues, quantum random walks, has only come about recently. Numerous simulations of both types of walks have been run and analyzed, and are generally well-understood. Research pertaining to one of the more important properties of classical random walks, namely, their ability to build fractal structures in diffusion-limited aggregation, has been particularly noteworthy. However, only now has research begun in this area in regards to quantum random motion. The study of random walks and the structures they build has various applications in materials science. Since all processes are quantum in nature, it is important to consider the quantum variant of diffusion-limited aggregation. Recognizing that Schrödinger equation and a classical random walk are both diffusion equations, it is possible to connect and compare them. Using similar parameters for both equations, we ran various simulations aggregating particles. Our results show that particles moving according to Schrödinger equation can create fractal structures, much like the classical random walk. Furthermore, the fractal dimensions of these quantum diffusion-limited aggregates vary between 1.43 and 2, depending on the size of the initial wave packet.
This study examines integrating the Schrödinger equation with classical mechanics using a virtual axis-to-dimensional expansion. One-dimensional material fluctuations are viewed in a two-dimensional plane, explaining the random nature of these fluctuations and their spatial and temporal trajectories. A quantum-consistent force field is proposed, with its strength determined by the Planck constant and inversely proportional to the distance from the stationary point. Newton's second law is applied to establish a second-order linear differential equation for material fluctuations, from which the standard one-dimensional Schrödinger equation is derived, showing their equivalence. The study extends the three-dimensional Schrödinger equation to include external forces and explains quantum phenomena like energy levels and transitions through particle trajectory changes. This approach connects classical mechanics and quantum mechanics, offering a concise and intuitive formulation with clear physical significance.