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Journal of Modern Optics

Approximate wave function from approximate non-representable Wigner distributions

Patrick J. Loughlin, Leon W. Cohen

Published Nov 10, 2008• 13 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have recently derived a phase space approximation for wave propagation, and we have shown that this approximation is accurate especially compared to the stationary phase approximation. The method gives an approximate Wigner distribution, which raises the question, is the approximate Wigner distribution representable? If it is, then we can invert it to obtain the corresponding wave function. If it is not, can we obtain an approximate wave function from it, and how good is the approximation? Although the answer to the first question is no, we show that from the Wigner approximation one can recover the exact spatial spectrum magnitude and derivative of the phase. We also consider other methods for obtaining approximate wave functions from the Wigner approximation.

DOI
10.1080/09500340802220745

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We have recently derived a phase space approximation for wave propagation, and we have shown that this approximation is accurate especially compared to the stationary phase approximation. The method gives an approximate Wigner distribution, which raises the question, is the approximate Wigner distribution representable? If it is, then we can invert it to obtain the corresponding wave function. If it is not, can we obtain an approximate wave function from it, and how good is the approximation? Although the answer to the first question is no, we show that from the Wigner approximation one can recover the exact spatial spectrum magnitude and derivative of the phase. We also consider other methods for obtaining approximate wave functions from the Wigner approximation.
Quantum phase‐space distributions offer a royal road into the fascinating quantum–classical interface; the Wigner function being the first and best example. However, the subject is frequent with subtleties and textbook‐level misinformation; e.g. “The Wigner distribution can give wrong answers for some operator expectation values” . Since the Wigner distribution is just another representation of the density matrix, it must yield correct answers. To that end, Marlan Scully has asked at several international conferences (the 2015 Prague conference being one of them) the following question: “Starting with the density matrix (not the Moyal characteristic function), could you give me a simple direct derivation of the Wigner distribution?” Section contains his answer. In Appendix D , we give a related treatment and make contact with other approaches. We hope that as a result of our studies, the Wigner distribution will become more deeply appreciated.
Correct use of the Wigner representation of quantum mechanics, which is realized with joint distributions of quasiprobabilities in phase space, requires the use of certain specific rules and attention to a number of properties which distinguish the quasiprobability from a true probability. This paper is mainly concerned with these problems. In the Wigner representation the quantum Liouville equation appears instead of the Schroedinger equation. The solution may have no physical meaning unless it is subjected to a necessary and sufficient condition which selects an allowed class of distributions which describe quantum-mechanical pure states. This condition contains Planck's constant and imposes, besides the uncertainty relations, severe restrictions on the possible form of the Wigner function. When this condition is satisfied, one can reconstruct the wave function from the Wigner function. In the case of an oscillator, the quantization condition for the energies of the stationary states does not follow from the Liouville equation, but from this supplementary condition. Unlike the true probability density, any Wigner function (except Gaussian ones) of a pure state takes on negative values. Another important peculiarity is that the quasiprobability is not concentrated on certain hypersurfaces, but is smeared out over the entire phase space. These and other features considered in this paper should be kept in mind when using the Wigner representation in quantum-mechanical problems.
In a previous paper, with a similar title, the authors showed that for bijective (i.e. one-to-one onto) canonical transformations they can obtain their quantum mechanical representations in the form of a kernel in the phase space of Wigner distribution functions and recover the classical expectation for this kernel in the limit to 0. For non-bijective canonical transformations the situation is more complex as the phase space acquires either a Riemann surface structure or requires the introduction of the concept of an ambiguity group. By discussing the non-bijective canonical transformation taking them from an oscillator of frequency kappa -1 , where kappa is an integer, to one of unit frequency, they see how the kernel is generalised to include the indices associated with the irreducible representations of the ambiguity group, i.e. the ambiguity spins. They obtain the kernel explicitly and show that in the limit to 0 they recover the form that they expect in the Riemann surface picture of their phase space. While they illustrate their analysis through the representation in Wigner distribution phase space of a specific non-bijective canonical transformation, the procedure is clearly extendable to the representations of general canonical transformations of this type.
We apply quasi-distribution methods developed for quantum mechanics to the propagation of pulses in dispersive media with attenuation. We show that a Schrödinger type equation follows for propagation of the pulse for each mode. One then transforms the equation to obtain an equation of evolution in the phase space of position and wavenumber. In this paper we emphasize windowed wave functions and their corresponding phase space quasi-distributions. We obtain the time evolution equation, discuss possible approximations, and compare to the Wigner distribution approximation previously derived by Loughlin and Cohen by different methods.