We investigate the symmetry properties of hierarchies of non-linear Schrödinger equations, introduced in [2], which describe non-interacting systems in which tensor product wave-functions evolve by independent evolution of the factors (the separation property).We show that there are obstructions to lifting symmetries existing at a certain number of particles to higher numbers.Such obstructions vanish for particles without internal degrees of freedom and the usual space-time symmetries.For particles with internal degrees of freedom, such as spin, these obstructions are present and their circumvention requires a choice of a new term in the equation for each particle number.A Lie-algebra approach for non-linear theories is developed.
Using the thin-layer quantization, we formulate the problem of a Schrödinger particle constrained to move along a coordinate surface of the bi-spherical coordinate system. In three-dimensional space, the free Schrödinger equation is not separable in this coordinate system. However, when we consider the equation for a particle constrained to a given surface, there are only two degrees of freedom. One has to introduce a geometrical potential to attach the particle to the surface. This well-known potential has two contributions: one from Gauss’ curvature and the other from the mean curvature. The Schrödinger equation leads to a general Heun equation. We solve it exactly and present the eigenfunctions and plots of the probability densities, and, as an application of this methodology, we study the problem of an electric charge propagating along these coordinate surfaces in the presence of a uniform magnetic field.
The global rotational degrees of freedom in the Schr\"odinger equation for an N-body system are completely separated from the internal ones. After removing the motion of the center of mass, we find a complete set of
(2l+1) independent base functions with angular momentum
l. These are homogeneous polynomials in the components of the coordinate vectors and the solutions of the Laplace equation, where the Euler angles do not appear explicitly. Any function with given angular momentum and given parity in the system can be expanded with respect to the base functions, where the coefficients are the functions of the internal variables. With the right choice of the base functions and the internal variables, we explicitly establish the equations for those functions. Only $(3N\ensuremath{-}6)$ internal variables are involved both in the functions and in the equations. The permutation symmetry of the wave functions for identical particles is discussed.