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The Journal of Chemical Physics

A new method for solving the quantum hydrodynamic equations of motion: Application to two-dimensional reactive scattering

Denise K. Pauler, Brian K. Kendrick

Published Dec 24, 2003• 52 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The de Broglie-Bohm hydrodynamic equations of motion are solved using a meshless method based on a moving least squares approach and an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian frame of reference. A regridding algorithm adds and deletes computational points as needed in order to maintain a uniform interparticle spacing, and unitary time evolution is obtained by propagating the wave packet using averaged fields. The numerical instabilities associated with the formation of nodes in the reflected portion of the wave packet are avoided by adding artificial viscosity to the equations of motion. The methodology is applied to a two-dimensional model collinear reaction with an activation barrier. Reaction probabilities are computed as a function of both time and energy, and are in excellent agreement with those based on the quantum trajectory method.

DOI
10.1063/1.1630302

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The de Broglie-Bohm hydrodynamic equations of motion are solved using a meshless method based on a moving least squares approach and an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian frame of reference. A regridding algorithm adds and deletes computational points as needed in order to maintain a uniform interparticle spacing, and unitary time evolution is obtained by propagating the wave packet using averaged fields. The numerical instabilities associated with the formation of nodes in the reflected portion of the wave packet are avoided by adding artificial viscosity to the equations of motion. The methodology is applied to a two-dimensional model collinear reaction with an activation barrier. Reaction probabilities are computed as a function of both time and energy, and are in excellent agreement with those based on the quantum trajectory method.
The hydrodynamic equations of motion associated with the de Broglie-Bohm formulation of quantum mechanics are solved using a meshless method based upon a moving least-squares approach. An arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian frame of reference and a regridding algorithm which adds and deletes computational points are used to maintain a uniform and nearly constant interparticle spacing. The methodology also uses averaged fields to maintain unitary time evolution. The numerical instabilities associated with the formation of nodes in the reflected portion of the wave packet are avoided by adding artificial viscosity to the equations of motion. A new and more robust artificial viscosity algorithm is presented which gives accurate scattering results and is capable of capturing quantum resonances. The methodology is applied to a one-dimensional model chemical reaction that is known to exhibit a quantum resonance. The correlation function approach is used to compute the reactive scattering matrix, reaction probability, and time delay as a function of energy. Excellent agreement is obtained between the scattering results based upon the quantum hydrodynamic approach and those based upon standard quantum mechanics. This is the first clear demonstration of the ability of moving grid approaches to accurately and robustly reproduce resonance structures in a scattering system.
The quantum hydrodynamic equations associated with the de Broglie–Bohm formulation of quantum mechanics are solved using a meshless method based on a moving least squares approach. An arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian frame of reference is used which significantly improves the accuracy and stability of the method when compared to an approach based on a purely Lagrangian frame of reference. A regridding algorithm is implemented which adds and deletes points when necessary in order to maintain accurate and stable calculations. It is shown that unitarity in the time evolution of the quantum wave packet is significantly improved by propagating using averaged fields. As nodes in the reflected wave packet start to form, the quantum potential and force become very large and numerical instabilities occur. By introducing artificial viscosity into the equations of motion, these instabilities can be avoided and the stable propagation of the wave packet for very long times becomes possible. Results are presented for the scattering of a wave packet from a repulsive Eckart barrier.
The quantum trajectory method (QTM) for time-dependent wave packet dynamics involves integration of the de Broglie–Bohm hydrodynamic equations for the evolving probability fluid [C. Lopreore and R. E. Wyatt, Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 5190 (1999)]. The equations of motion for discretized elements of the probability fluid (particles) are integrated in the Lagrangian, moving with the fluid, picture. These fluid elements move under the influence of both the usual potential energy function and the quantum potential, which involves the curvature of the quantum amplitude. The quantum potential and the quantum force are evaluated using a moving weighted least squares algorithm. As a demonstration of applicability, the QTM is applied to a model collinear reaction with an activation barrier. The reaction probabilities are in good agreement with exact quantum results, even for a relatively small number of particles in the ensemble. The QTM accurately describes tunneling using only real valued trajectories. In addition to the reaction probability, plots are presented to show the probability density and the flux distributions at several time steps during the reaction.
The quantum hydrodynamic equations associated with the de Broglie-Bohm formulation of quantum mechanics are solved using a new methodology which gives an accurate, unitary, and stable propagation of a time dependent quantum wave packet [B. K. Kendrick, J. Chem. Phys. 119, 5805 (2003)]. The methodology is applied to an N-dimensional model chemical reaction with an activation barrier. A parallel version of the methodology is presented which is designed to run on massively parallel supercomputers. The computational scaling properties of the parallel code are investigated both as a function of the number of processors and the dimension N. A decoupling scheme is introduced which decouples the multidimensional quantum hydrodynamic equations into a set of uncoupled one-dimensional problems. The decoupling scheme dramatically reduces the computation time and is highly parallelizable. Furthermore, the computation time is shown to scale linearly with respect to the dimension N=2,...,100.
The quantum hydrodynamic approach is based on the de Broglie-Bohm formulation of quantum mechanics. The resulting fluid-like equations of motion describe the flow of probability and an accurate solution to these equations is equivalent to solving the time-dependent Schroedinger equation. Furthermore, the hydrodynamic approach provides new insight into the mechanisms as well as an alternative computational approach for treating tunneling phenomena. New concepts include well-defined 'quantum trajectories', 'quantum potential', and 'quantum force' all of which have classical analogues. The quantum potential and its associated force give rise to all quantum mechanical effects such as zero point energy, tunneling, and interference. A new numerical approach called the Iterative Finite Difference Method (IFDM) will be discussed. The IFDM is used to solve the set of non-linear coupled hydrodynamic equations. It is 2nd-order accurate in both space and time and exhibits exponential convergence with respect to the iteration count. The stability and computational efficiency of the IFDM is significantly improved by using a 'smart' Eulerian grid which has the same computational advantages as a Lagrangian or Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) grid. The IFDM is also capable of treating anharmonic potentials. Example calculations using the IFDM will be presented which include: a one-dimensional Gaussian wave packet tunneling through an Eckart barrier, a one-dimensional bound-state Morse oscillator, and a two-dimensional (2D) model collinear reaction using an anharmonic potential energy surface. Approximate treatments of the quantum hydrodynamic equations will also be discussed which could allow scaling of the calculations to hundreds of degrees of freedom which is important for treating tunneling phenomena in condensed phase systems.
The de Broglie--Bohm causual (hydrodynamic) formulation of quantum mechanics is computationally implemented in the Lagrangian (moving with the fluid) viewpoint. The quantum potential and force are accurately evaluated with a moving weighted least squares algorithm. The quantum trajectory method is then applied to barrier tunneling on smooth potential surfaces. Analysis of the tunneling mechanism leads to a novel and accurate approximation: shortly after the wave packet is launched, completely neglect all quantum terms in the dynamical equations for motion along the tunneling coordinate.