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Physica Scripta

The Study of a Continuously Observed Quantum Particle

P. Staszewski, Grażyna Staszewska

Published Aug 1, 2000• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We analyze the time-behaviour of the Gaussian wave packet of a quantum particle moving in the field of a linear force, undergoing a continuous nondemolition observation of its position. In particular, the time-dependence of position and momentum dispersions, as well as position-momentum uncertainty is investigated. The discussion includes the case of a free particle and initially coherent state of a harmonic oscillator. It is found that in the beginning of observation the momentum dispersion and position-momentum uncertainty always increase in contrast to the position dispersion. It is also proved that all considered functions asymptotically take the form of harmonic oscillations, decaying to finite values. For initially coherent states, the asymptotic bounds for all considered functions are given.

DOI
10.1238/physica.regular.062a00117

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We analyze the time-behaviour of the Gaussian wave packet of a quantum particle moving in the field of a linear force, undergoing a continuous nondemolition observation of its position. In particular, the time-dependence of position and momentum dispersions, as well as position-momentum uncertainty is investigated. The discussion includes the case of a free particle and initially coherent state of a harmonic oscillator. It is found that in the beginning of observation the momentum dispersion and position-momentum uncertainty always increase in contrast to the position dispersion. It is also proved that all considered functions asymptotically take the form of harmonic oscillations, decaying to finite values. For initially coherent states, the asymptotic bounds for all considered functions are given.
Recently, the stochastic nonlinear wave equation describing the dynamics of an observed quantum system has been solved for a free particle [Phys. Rev. A 45, 1347 (1992)]. In this paper, transient effects that occur during a continuous observation of the particle position are discussed. It is shown that the dispersion of the Gaussian wave packet of the particle always decreases in the beginning of the observation, then takes the form of oscillations which, after a short time, decay rapidly to the asymptotic value.
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A stochastic model of a continuous nondemolition observation of a quantum system is presented. The nonlinear stochastic wave equation describing the posterior dynamics of the observed quantum system is solved for a free particle of mass m>0. It is shown that the dispersion of the Gaussian wave packet does not increase to infinity as for a free unobserved particle, but tends to the finite limit ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\tau}}}_{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\infty}}}^{2}$=(\ensuremath{\Elzxh}/2\ensuremath{\lambda}m)1/2{)}^{1/2})1/2, where \ensuremath{\lambda} is the accuracy coefficient of an indirect nondemolition measurement of the particle's position.
Abstract In quantum mechanics, a classical particle is raised to a wave-function, thereby acquiring many more degrees of freedom. For instance, in the semi-classical regime, while the position and momentum expectation values follow the classical trajectory, the uncertainty of a wave-packet can evolve and beat independently. We use this insight to revisit the dynamics of a 1d particle in a time-dependent harmonic well. One can solve it by considering time reparameterizations and the Virasoro group action to map the system to the harmonic oscillator with constant frequency. We prove that identifying such a simplifying time variable is naturally solved by quantizing the system and looking at the evolution of the width of a Gaussian wave-packet. We further show that the Ermakov-Lewis invariant for the classical evolution in a time-dependent harmonic potential is actually the quantum uncertainty of a Gaussian wave-packet. This naturally extends the classical Ermakov-Lewis invariant to a constant of motion for quantum systems following Schrödinger equation. We conclude with a discussion of potential applications to quantum gravity and quantum cosmology.
The dynamical properties of the wave and particle aspects of the harmonic oscillator can be studied with the help of the time-dependent Schroedinger equation (SE). Especially the time-dependence of maximum and width of Gaussian wave packet solutions allow to show the evolution and connections of those two complementary aspects. The investigation of the relations between the equations describing wave and particle aspects leads to an alternative description of the considered systems. This can be achieved by means of a Newtonian equation for a complex variable in connection with a conservation law for a nonclassical angular momentum-type quantity. With the help of this complex variable, it is also possible to develop a Hamiltonian formalism for the wave aspect contained in the SE, which allows to describe the dynamics of the position and momentum uncertainties. In this case the Hamiltonian function is equivalent to the difference between the mean value of the Hamiltonian operator and the classical Hamiltonian function.