Complex-extended Bohmian mechanics is investigated by analytically continuing the wave function in polar form into the complex plane. We derive the complex-extended version of the quantum Hamilton-Jacobi equation and the continuity equation in Bohmian mechanics. Complex-extended Bohmian mechanics recovers the standard real-valued Bohmian mechanics on the real axis. The trajectories on the real axis are in accord with the standard real-valued Bohmian trajectories. The trajectories launched away from the real axis never intersect the real axis, and they display symmetry with respect to the real axis. Trajectories display hyperbolic deflection around nodes of the wave function in the complex plane.
Complex-extended Bohmian mechanics is investigated by analytically continuing the wave function in polar form into the complex plane. We derive the complex-extended version of the quantum Hamilton-Jacobi equation and the continuity equation in Bohmian mechanics. Complex-extended Bohmian mechanics recovers the standard real-valued Bohmian mechanics on the real axis. The trajectories on the real axis are in accord with the standard real-valued Bohmian trajectories. The trajectories launched away from the real axis never intersect the real axis, and they display symmetry with respect to the real axis. Trajectories display hyperbolic deflection around nodes of the wave function in the complex plane.
Bohmian mechanics, developed by Bohm in 1952, provides an alternative interpretation to nonrelativistic quantum mechanics [1-3]. In the hydrodynamic formulation of quantum mechanics, the continuity equation and the quantum Hamilton-Jacobi equation (QHJE) are obtained by substituting the wave function expressed in terms of the real amplitude and the real action function into the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. Bohm’s analytical approach has been used to compute and interpret realvalued quantum trajectories from a precomputed wave function for a diverse range of physical processes [3-8]. In the synthetic approach, the quantum trajectory method has been developed as a computational tool to generate the wave function by evolving ensembles of real-valued quantum trajectories through the integration of the hydrodynamic equations on the fly [9]. Remarkable progress has been made in the use of T&F Cat # K11224, Chapter 18, Page 284, 15-9-2010 real-valued quantum trajectories for solving a wide range of quantum mechanical problems [10].
In a recent publication, Goldfarb et al. have proposed a new trajectory scheme to solve quantum problems: Bohmian mechanics with complex action BOMCA . According to these authors, their contribution represents “a novel formulation of Bohmian mechanics.” In our opinion, rather than a new formulation of Bohmian mechanics, the proposal of Goldfarb et al. consists of a novel quantum computational scheme, which is based on solving the complex trajectory equations resulting from an already known complex version of Bohmian dynamics. On the other hand, Goldfarb et al. also claimed that their numerical scheme describes “fully local complex quantum trajectories,” with the reward of a significantly higher degree of localization than in the conventional Bohmian mechanics by lowering the magnitude of the quantum potential. At least from a theoretical and interpretative point of view, we consider that it is very important to clarify what “fully local quantum trajectories” means. Bohmian mechanics is a nonlocal theory because standard quantum mechanics is a nonlocal theory. This nonlocality manifests via the presence of a quantum potential, and therefore the corresponding quantum trajectories will display features that reflect such nonlocality. Something similar should also occur for any trajectory-based approach that intends to be equivalent to standard quantum mechanics. In this Comment we would like to provide a general discussion on these two aspects arising from the work of Goldfarb et al., which can be of much interest to the Chemical Physics community. In particular, we would like to stress the special interest relying on how the term locality should be employed. The approach of Goldfarb et al. starts with the timedependent quantum Hamilton-Jacobi equation. This equation was considered by Leacock and Padgett in 1983 within the context of the quantum transformation theory as a way to obtain bound-state energy levels of quantum systems with no need to calculate the corresponding eigenfunctions. According to Leacock and Padgett, the quantum Hamilton-Jacobi equation can be either stated as a postulate as done by these authors or derived from the Schrodinger equation through a simple connection formula. In the second case, the quantum action corresponds to the complex phase of the wave function when the latter is expressed as a pure complex exponential function. This relationship allows one to pass straightforwardly from the quantum Hamilton-Jacobi formalism to the standard one in terms of the time-dependent Schrodinger and vice versa . Although both the Ansatz and the formulation used by Leacock and Padgett are similar to those considered in the standard quantum WKB semiclassical approximation, as pointed out by these authors, their approach conceptually differs from the WKB one. Within Bohmian mechanics, energy eigenstates present an inconvenience: they give rise to zero velocity fields. Hence, when particles are described by this type of states, they will remain steady motionless . To overcome this problem, Floyd and Faraggi and Matone developed timeindependent quantum Hamilton-Jacobi-like formulations starting from real bipolar Ansatze, though they did not claim full equivalence with standard quantum mechanics regarding their predictions. Later, John proposed a timedependent complex quantum trajectory formalism based on the same connection formula mentioned by Leacock and Padgett to study the dynamics associated with some simple analytical cases, such as the harmonic oscillator or the step barrier. This “modified de Broglie–Bohm approach to quantum mechanics,” as termed by John, is formally equivalent to the BOMCA formulation of Goldfarb et al. Nevertheless, we would like to specify that, due to the fundamental theoretical nature of John’s contribution, a separate calculation of the wave function is required in order to obtain the corresponding trajectories John makes use of the “guiding wave” idea from Bohmian mechanics . Meanwhile, in the version of Goldfarb et al. the modified de Broglie–Bohm approach is formulated in terms of a closed set of equations in the spirit of quantum hydrodynamical formalisms , which avoids the calculation of the wave functions, thus providing a new, practical use to such an approach. Furthermore, within the approach of Goldfarb et al., the expression for the quantum force happens to be typically much smaller than in standard Bohmian mechanics. On the other hand, we would also like to note that a related formulation has also been used by Chou and Wyatt, though they developed a different, novel numerical scheme to tackle the problem of bound-energy levels and scattering in one dimension. When trying to understand the quantum-classical correspondence from the perspective of a WKB-like formulation of Bohmian mechanics WKB-BM , Sanz and co-workers reached the complex quantum HamiltonJacobi equation the same year as John, but independently. The WKB-BM formulation constitutes an excellent, compreTHE JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS 127, 197101 2007
In a recent paper [B. Poirier, Chem. Phys. 370, 4 (2010)], a formulation of quantum mechanics was presented for which the usual wavefunction and Schrödinger equation are replaced with an ensemble of real-valued trajectories satisfying a principle of least action. It was found that the resultant quantum trajectories are those of Bohmian mechanics. In this paper, analogous ideas are applied to Bohmian Mechanics with Complex Action (BOMCA). The standard BOMCA trajectories as previously defined are found not to satisfy an action principle. However, an alternate set of complex equations of motion is derived that does exhibit this desirable property, and an approximate numerical implementation is presented. Exact analytical results are also presented, for Gaussian wavepacket propagation under quadratic potentials.
This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the Bohmian formulation of quantum mechanics. It starts with a historical review of the difficulties found by Louis de Broglie, David Bohm, and John S. Bell to convince the scientific community about the validity and utility of Bohmian mechanics. Then, a formal explanation of Bohmian mechanics for nonrelativistic, single-particle quantum systems is presented. The generalization to many-particle systems, where the exchange interaction and the spin play an important role, is also presented. After that, the measurement process in Bohmian mechanics is discussed. It is emphasized that Bohmian mechanics exactly reproduces the mean value and temporal and spatial correlations obtained from the standard, that is the Copenhagen or orthodox, formulation. The ontological characteristics of Bohmian mechanics provide a description of measurements as another type of interaction without the need for introducing the wave function collapse. Several solved problems are presented at the end of the chapter, giving additional mathematical support to some particular issues. A detailed description of computational algorithms to obtain Bohmian trajectories from the numerical solution of the Schrodinger or the Hamilton-Jacobi equations are presented in an appendix. The motivation of this chapter is twofold: first, as a didactic introduction to Bohmian formalism, which is used in the subsequent chapters, and second, as a self-contained summary for any newcomer interested in using Bohmian mechanics in his or her daily research activity.
David Bohm had shown that the Schrödinger equation, that is a "visiting card" of quantum mechanics, can be decomposed onto two equations for real functions — action and probability density. The first equation is the Hamilton–Jacobi (HJ) equation, a "visiting card" of classical mechanics, is modified by the Bohmian quantum potential. This potential is a nonlinear function of the probability density. And the second is the continuity equation. The latter can be transformed to the entropy balance equation. The Bohmian quantum potential is transformed into two Bohmian quantum correctors. The first corrector modifies the kinetic energy term of the HJ equation, and the second one modifies the potential energy term. The unification of the quantum HJ equation and the entropy balance equation gives a complexified HJ equation containing complex kinetic and potential terms. The imaginary parts of these terms have an order of smallness about the Planck constant. The Bohmian quantum corrector is an indispensable term modifying the Feynman's path integral by expanding coordinates and momenta to an imaginary sector. The difference between the Bohmian and Feynman's trajectories is that the former satisfies the principle of least action and they bifurcate on interfaces. The latter covers all possible paths from a source to a detector. They can split and annihilate.
The complex-valued quantum mechanics considers quantum motion on the complex plane instead of on the real axis, and studies the variations of a particle complex position, momentum and energy along a complex trajectory. On the basis of quantum Hamilton-Jacobi formalism in the complex space, we point out that having complex-valued motion is a universal property of quantum systems, because every quantum system is actually accompanied with an intrinsic complex Hamiltonian originating from the equation. It is revealed that the conventional real-valued quantum mechanics is a special case of the complex-valued quantum mechanics in that the eigen-structures of real and complex quantum systems, such as their eigenvalues, eigenfunctions and eigen-trajectories, are invariant under linear complex mapping. In other words, there is indeed no distinction between Hermitian systems, PT-symmetric systems, and non PT-symmetric systems when viewed from a complex domain. Their eigen-structures can be made coincident through linear transformation of complex coordinates.