A nonlinear wave equation[Formula: see text]derived from the sine–Gordon equation is shown to possess a variety of solutions, the most interesting of which is a solution that describes a wave packet travelling with velocity uc modulating a carrier wave travelling with velocity uc. The envelop and carrier wave speeds agree precisely with the group and phase velocities found by de Broglie for matter waves. No spreading is exhibited by the soliton, so that it behaves exactly like a particle in classical mechanics. Moreover, the classically computed energy E of the disturbance turns out to be exactly equal to the frequency ω of the carrier wave, so that the Planck relation [Formula: see text] is automatically satisfied without postulating a particle–wave dualism.
A nonlinear wave equation[Formula: see text]derived from the sine–Gordon equation is shown to possess a variety of solutions, the most interesting of which is a solution that describes a wave packet travelling with velocity uc modulating a carrier wave travelling with velocity uc. The envelop and carrier wave speeds agree precisely with the group and phase velocities found by de Broglie for matter waves. No spreading is exhibited by the soliton, so that it behaves exactly like a particle in classical mechanics. Moreover, the classically computed energy E of the disturbance turns out to be exactly equal to the frequency ω of the carrier wave, so that the Planck relation [Formula: see text] is automatically satisfied without postulating a particle–wave dualism.
The problem of interpreting moving soliton solutions of some nonlinear equations as quantum-like particles is critically analyzed. Purely classical equations (sine-Gordon) as well as nonlinear quantum equations (Schrödinger, Dirac, Kelin–Gordon) are investigated. Three different definitions of energy associated with these equations are considered, and the functional relations replacing the de Broglie postulate, [Formula: see text], are explicitly given. Our analysis shows that fundamental problems generated by the nonlinear approach to quantum mechanics are still unsolved, and these theories have to be considered cautiously.
The physics of special relativity is applied to a wave-packet model of a particle without the usual de Broglie-like assumption of Planck's rule, E = hv. The velocity of the particle is equated to the group-velocity of the wave-packet to associate the particle with its wave-packet. With such an identification it is demonstrated using special relativity that the momentum four-vector, P = [p, E/c2] of the particle is parallel and proportional to a central wave-number four-vector, K0 = [k0. ω0/c2], of the particle's wave-packet. The constant of proportionality, relating these two four-vectors, has the dimension of action and by diffraction experiments it has the value h/2π where h is Planck's constant. This refinement of the de Broglie wave-like nature of a particle suggests that special relativity underlies quantum physics more deeply than heretofore believed. The above quantum rules are used to find the wave-packet function in the one-dimensional case of a non-relativistic free particle and a particle in a conservative force field of potential V (x). This wave-packet function is shown to satisfy an integral time-evolution equation which relates the wave function at time t0 to the function at a slightly later time t. The resulting integral equation is equivalent to the propagator equation or path-integral hypothesised by Feynman. This fact also demonstrates, using the method of Feynman, that the wave-packet function satisfies Schrödinger's partial differential equation. The wave-packet function of a particle in a force field is directly shown to satisfy a linear integral equation which relates the wave-packet at one instant of time to its values at all later times. The kernel or propagator of this integral equation is also equivalent to Feynman's path integral. A computation demonstrates that the position of a moving particle in a simple quadratic potential well does not become more uncertain with the passage of time. This contrasts with the behaviour of a moving free particle which as a function of time becomes more and more difficult to accurately locate.
Abstract-- We used a nonlinear Schrodinger equation to replace the linear Schrodinger equation and to study further the natures and states of microscopic particles due to plenty of difficulties of quantum mechanics. From this investigation we find that the states and properties of microscopic particles are considerably changed relative to those in quantum mechanics. An outstanding and obvious change is that the microscopic particles have a wave-corpuscle duality in such a case. The solution of the nonlinear Schrodinger equation contains an envelop and carrier waves with determinant frequency which can propagation in medium in a certain velocity. These display the wave feature of particle. However the solutions have all a mass centre and possess a determinant size and mass, momentum and energy, which satisfy also the conservation laws of mass, momentum and energy, at the same time, they meet the collision law of classical particles. These embody the corpuscle feature of the microscopic particles. Finally we seek the reasons and roots generating these changes, which are due to the nonlinear interactions among the particles or between the particles and background field to be considered in the nonlinear Schrodinger equation. The nonlinear interactions provide a double-well potential to make the microscopic particle to be localized as a soliton, and break also through the fundamental hypothesis for the independence of Hamiltonian
In the wave-particle duality, a free particle can be considered as a wave packet. Is there a wave property that corresponds to the rest mass of the particle? This is an interesting question that has not been extensively explored before. We suggest that this problem may be approached by treating the rest mass on the same footing as energy and momentum. Here we demonstrate that, by assuming that the matter wave of a particle behaves like a photon, one could derive the mass-energy relation from the solution of a simplified wave equation. This solution suggests that the rest mass of a particle is associated with a "transverse wave number", which characterizes the radial variation of the wave function in the transverse plane. This finding has several appealing features. For example, it shows a consistent geometrical relationship between mass, energy and momentum in both the wave and particle perspectives. Also, it predicts that a massless particle must travel at the constant speed of light. Furthermore, from a philosophical point of view, this model suggests that the mass-energy relation attributed to the special theory of relativity may have a root in the wave-particle duality. Indeed, it is shown that the Klein-Gordon equation can be derived naturally based on this model.
We set up the classical wave equation for a particle formed of an oscillatory zero-rest-mass charge together with its resulting electromagnetic waves, traveling in a potential field V in a susceptible vacuum. The waves are Doppler-displaced upon the source motion, and superpose into a total, traveling- and in turn a standing- beat wave, or de Broglie phase wave, described by a corresponding total classical wave equation. By back-substitution of the explicitly known total, standing beat wave function and upon appropriate reductions at classic-velocity limit, we separate out from the total a component wave equation describing the kinetic motion of particle, which is equivalent to the Schrödinger equation. The Schrödinger wave function follows to be the envelope function of the standing beat wave at classic-velocity limit.
Despite the fact that it is not integrable, the (1 + 2)-dimensional Sine-Gordon equation has N-soliton solutions, whose velocities are lower than the speed of light (c = 1), for all N ≥ 1. Based on these solutions, a quantum-mechanical system is constructed over a Fock space of particles. The coordinate of each particle is an angle around the unit circle. U, a nonlinear functional of the particle number-operators, which obeys the Sine-Gordon equation in (1 + 2) dimensions, is constructed. Its eigenvalues on N-particle states in the Fock space are the slower-than-light, N-soliton solutions of the equation. A projection operator (a nonlinear functional of U), which vanishes on the single-particle subspace, is a mass-density generator. Its eigenvalues on multi-particle states play the role of the mass density of structures that emulate free, spatially extended, relativistic particles. The simplicity of the quantum-mechanical system allows for the incorporation of perturbations with particle interactions, which have the capacity to “annihilate” and “create” solitons – an effect that does not have an analog in perturbed classical nonlinear evolution equations.