In classical mechanics, Newton-equivalent Hamiltonians yield the same equations of motion and hence identical dynamics. In the quantum context, they instead generally yield different discrete energy spectra in the confined case and different scattering amplitudes in the unconfined case.
Classical and quantum physics represent two distinct theories; however, quantum physics is regarded as the more fundamental of the two. It is posited that classical mechanics should arise from quantum mechanics under certain limiting conditions. Nevertheless, this remains a challenging objective. In this work, we explore the potential for unifying the dynamics of classical and quantum physics. This discussion does not suggest that classical behavior emerges from quantum mechanics; rather, it demonstrates the exact equivalence between the dynamics of quantum observables and their classical counterparts. It is shown that the Heisenberg equations of motion can be cast in a form that is structurally equivalent to Newton's equations of motion, with ℏ dropping out from the equations. In a generalized analysis, the Heisenberg equations are cast in a form that is identical to the classical Hamilton's equations of motion. This implies that both quantum and classical dynamics are governed by the same form of equations, with the Heisenberg operators substituting the classical observables.
Despite the fact that it has been known since the time of Heisenberg that quantum operators obey a quantum version of Newton's laws, students are often told that derivations of quantum mechanics must necessarily follow from the Hamiltonian or Lagrangian formulations of mechanics. Here, we first derive the existing Heisenberg equations of motion from Newton's laws and the uncertainty principle using only the equations F=dtdP, P=mdtdV, and [X,P]=i. Then, a new expression for the propagator is derived that makes a connection between time evolution in quantum mechanics and the motion of a classical particle under Newton's laws. The propagator is solved for three cases where an exact solution is possible 1) the free particle 2) the harmonic oscillator 3) a constant force, or linear potential in the standard interpretation. Such a picture may be useful for students as they make the transition from classical to quantum mechanics and help solidify the equivalence of the Hamiltonian, Lagrangian, and Newtonian formulations of physics in their minds.
We study classical and quantum dynamics of the symmetric harmonic oscillator and the symmetric bouncer defined in 2-D. For these systems we get each of them for two different constants of motion, two Lagrangians and two Hamiltonians which describe the same classical dynamics. However, the quantization of these systems (using Schrödinger equation), using their two equivalents Hamiltonian, describes different quantum dynamics for each of them. This represents an ambiguity on the Hamiltonian formulation of the Quantum Mechanics.