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European Journal of Physics

Charge in a magnetic field: quasi-classical states

Franco Gori, Massimo Santarsiero, Riccardo Borghi, Giorgio Guattari

Published Jan 1, 2000• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We propose an elementary approach for introducing the quasi-classical quantum states of a spinless charged particle in a uniform magnetic field. By exploiting the similarity with the case of the two-dimensional harmonic oscillator as well as a property of the solutions of the pertinent Schrödinger equation, we derive two basic solutions. One of them is a stationary, minimum-uncertainty wavepacket centred at an arbitrary point. This corresponds to a classical particle at rest. The other solution is a minimum-uncertainty wavepacket that rotates at the classical angular speed. The expected value of the energy agrees with the classical prediction within the zero-point energy. These results are obtained without any knowledge of the energy eigenstates. An appendix suggests a brief and self-contained procedure for writing the Hamiltonian of a charged particle under the Lorentz force.

DOI
10.1088/0143-0807/21/1/305

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We propose an elementary approach for introducing the quasi-classical quantum states of a spinless charged particle in a uniform magnetic field. By exploiting the similarity with the case of the two-dimensional harmonic oscillator as well as a property of the solutions of the pertinent Schrödinger equation, we derive two basic solutions. One of them is a stationary, minimum-uncertainty wavepacket centred at an arbitrary point. This corresponds to a classical particle at rest. The other solution is a minimum-uncertainty wavepacket that rotates at the classical angular speed. The expected value of the energy agrees with the classical prediction within the zero-point energy. These results are obtained without any knowledge of the energy eigenstates. An appendix suggests a brief and self-contained procedure for writing the Hamiltonian of a charged particle under the Lorentz force.
Abstract In this paper we show how the classical result of a charged particle moving in a circle in the xy plane, when a uniform magnetic field is directed along the z -axis, can be derived from the Landau quantum theory using the coherent states of the two-dimensional isotropic harmonic oscillator in the xy plane. The coherent states in this case are the simultaneous eigen vectors of the annihilation operators a + and a − . We prove that the time-dependent coordinate space wave packets representing the time-dependent coherent states move in a circle with the cyclotron frequency ω c = ∣ q ∣ B m and with a radius given by the classical expression, but given in terms of the quantum mechanical expectation values. The expectation value of the energy of the particle and of the square of the radius of its circular are proportional to the square of the magnitude of the eigen value of a + in the coherent state, where as the x and y coordinates of the centre of the circle are proportional to the real and the imaginary parts of the eigen value of a − . The phase of the circular motion is the same as the phase of the complex eigen value of a + . So for a given energy of the particle or for a given radius of the circular orbit, there are an infinite number of circles which differ from each other by the x and y coordinates of the centre as well as the phase of the circular motion. The infinite degeneracy of the Landau levels is due to the invariance of the energy eigen values under spatial translations in the xy plane and rotations about the z -axis. We also show that as the magnitude of the eigen value of a + becomes much larger than one, the relative uncertainty or fluctuation in the energy and in the radius of the circular orbit becomes negligibly small as we expect for a classical state.
The quantum harmonic oscillator is a quantum-mechanical analog of the classical harmonic oscillator. Because an arbitrary potential can usually be approximated as a harmonic potential at the vicinity of a stable equilibrium point, it is one of the most important model systems in quantum mechanics. Coherent state is physically interesting because it is a minimum uncertainty state at which the Heisenberg uncertainty relation reaches its minimum. If a charged particle of charge moves in an electromagnetic field, there is a Lorentz force acting on the particle. The electric and magnetic are invariant under the gauge transformation. In the presence of an external vector potential, the Hamiltonian is changed, so is the probability current operator.
Abstract Based on the quasi-classical approximation, a general approach is proposed for constructing non-stationary quantum states of a charged particle in a magnetic field, when the dissipative forces of viscous friction and drag, proportional to the velocity and the square of the velocity, respectively, are also significant. The corresponding quasi-classical Green’s function is found, with the help of which the squeezed and coherent states of the particle are studied. It is shown that the dissipation and a magnetic field suppress the quantum properties of the particle. This is especially true for the transverse motion with respect to the magnetic field. Over time, the coherent and squeezed states transform into the same static state, which is characterized by a zero uncertainty of the transverse coordinates and an uncertainty of the longitudinal coordinate, which contains information about the initial velocity of the particle.
The quasi-classical spin theory is a modified Hamilton-Jacobi theory for a classical relativistic dipole whose space-time trajectory is coupled to its spin motion. The equations of this quasi-classical theory are almost identical with the second-order (squared) Dirac equation, and, in fact, form a new WKB approximation to the second-order Dirac equation. We quantize this theory by requiring that a classical spinor "wave function" be continuous and single valued, and that it satisfy an eigenvalue equation. We find for a particle in a uniform magnetic field, and in a Coulomb field, that this quasi-classical theory predicts the same energy and angular momentum eigenvalues as the Dirac theory. The quasi-classical theory is invariant under Lorentz transformation, spin rotations, and charge conjugation. The spinor wave functions are form invariant with respect to arbitrary canonical transformations.
We study the valence electron of an alkaline atom or a general charged particle with arbitrary spin and with magnetic moment moving in a rotating magnetic field. By using a time-dependent unitary transformation, the Schr\"odinger equation with the time-dependent Hamiltonian can be reduced to a Schr\"odinger-like equation with a time-independent effective Hamiltonian. Eigenstates of the effective Hamiltonian correspond to cyclic solutions of the original Schr\"odinger equation. The nonadiabatic geometric phase of a cyclic solution can be expressed in terms of the expectation value of the component of the total angular momentum along the rotating axis, regardless of whether the solution is explicitly available. For the alkaline atomic electron and a strong magnetic field, the eigenvalue problem of the effective Hamiltonian is completely solved, and the geometric phase turns out to be a linear combination of two solid angles. For a weak magnetic field, the same problem is solved partly. For a general charged particle, the problem is solved approximately in a slowly rotating magnetic field, and the geometric phases are also calculated.