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International Journal of Quantum Chemistry

Variational calculations of the Wigner distribution function for selected anharmonic oscillators

Joachim J. Włodarz, Janusz Nowakowski

Published Aug 1, 1990• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract The quantum (ħ =1) and semiclassical (ℏ → 0) Wigner distribution functions were calculated for some anharmonic oscillators using a direct phase‐space variational method.
DOI
10.1002/qua.560380232

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We investigate the structure of Wigner distribution functions of energy eigenstates of quartic and sextic anharmonic oscillators. The corresponding Moyal equations are shown to be solvable, revealing new properties of Schrödinger eigenfunctions of these oscillators. In particular, they provide alternative approaches to their determination and corresponding eigenenergies, away from the conventional differential equation method, which usually relies on the not so widely known bi- and tri-confluent Heun functions.
In this work we study the Wigner functions, which are the quantum analogues of the classical phase space density, and show how a full rigorous semiclassical scheme for all orders of ℏ can be constructed for them without referring to the actual coordinate space wavefunctions from which the Wigner functions are typically calculated. We find such a picture by a careful analysis around the stationary points of the main quantization equation, and apply this approach to the harmonic oscillator solving it for all orders of ℏ.
We investigate the suitability of the Wigner method as a tool for semiclassical dynamics. In spite of appearances, the dynamical time evolution of Wigner phase space densities is found not to reduce to classical dynamics in most circumstances, even as h→0. In certain applications involving highly ’coherent’ density matrices, this precludes direct h-expansion treatment of quantum corrections. However, by selective resummation of terms in the Wigner–Moyal series for the quantum phase space propagation it is possible to arrive at a revised or renormalized classicallike dynamics which solves the difficulties of the direct approach. In this paper, we review the Wigner method, qualitatively introduce the difficulties encountered in certain semiclassical applications, and derive quantitative means of surmounting these difficulties. Possible practical applications are discussed.
In this work, an unusual approach is taken to calculate the ground state and first excited state energies of the anharmonic oscillator potential. By using the variational method, analytical wave functions which have extremely accurate expectation values for the quartic or sextic oscillators are obtained. The corrections due to the other terms are then calculated perturbatively. It is shown that each approach, which starts with a different choice of zeroth‐order term, provides results that agree with those computed from numerical integration and series solution. Joining the above schemes, yields a combined variational and perturbative treatment of anharmonic oscillator problems.