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Chinese Physics B

Quantum mechanical version of the classical Liouville theorem

Chuanmei Xie, Hong-Yi Fan

Published Mar 1, 2013• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In terms of the coherent state evolution in phase space, we present a quantum mechanical version of the classical Liouville theorem. The evolution of the coherent state from | z 〉 to | sz − rz *〉 corresponds to the motion from a point z ( q , p ) to another point sz − rz * with | s | 2 − | r | 2 = 1. The evolution is governed by the so-called Fresnel operator U ( s , r ) that was recently proposed in quantum optics theory, which classically corresponds to the matrix optics law and the optical Fresnel transformation, and obeys group product rules. In other words, we can recapitulate the Liouville theorem in the context of quantum mechanics by virtue of coherent state evolution in phase space, which seems to be a combination of quantum statistics and quantum optics.

DOI
10.1088/1674-1056/22/3/030501

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In terms of the coherent state evolution in phase space, we present a quantum mechanical version of the classical Liouville theorem. The evolution of the coherent state from | z 〉 to | sz − rz *〉 corresponds to the motion from a point z ( q , p ) to another point sz − rz * with | s | 2 − | r | 2 = 1. The evolution is governed by the so-called Fresnel operator U ( s , r ) that was recently proposed in quantum optics theory, which classically corresponds to the matrix optics law and the optical Fresnel transformation, and obeys group product rules. In other words, we can recapitulate the Liouville theorem in the context of quantum mechanics by virtue of coherent state evolution in phase space, which seems to be a combination of quantum statistics and quantum optics.
We clarify certain confusions in the literature of the density operator in quantum mechanics, and demonstrate that the quantum Liouville theorem has the same form in both the Schrodinger and the Heisenberg pictures.Our starting point is to treat the density operator as an observable which has its specific time dependence in each of the two pictures.It is further shown that such a formulation will provide the exact correspondence between classical and quantum statistical mechanics with the Liouville theorem being interpreted as a conservation law, which is derivable from the equation of motion only in the quantum case.
Unique set of coherent states for the anharmonic oscillator is obtained by requiring i. under the quantum mechanical time evolution a coherent state evolves into another, governed by trajectory in the classical phase space (of a related hamiltonian); ii. the resolution of identity involves exactly the classical phase space measure.The rules are invariant under unitary transformations of the quantum theory and canonical transformations of the classical theory. The states are almost, but not quite, minimal uncertainty wave packets. The construction can be generalized to quantum versions of integrable classical theories.
A quantum mechanical representation suitable for studying the time evolution of quantum densities in phase space is proposed and examined in detail. This representation on ℒ2 (2) phase space is based on definitions of the operators P̂ and Q̂ in phase space that satisfy various correspondences for the Liouville equation in classical and quantum phase space, as well as quantum position and momentum ℒ2 (1) spaces. The definitions presented here, P̂=p/2−iℏ∂/∂q and Q̂=q/2+iℏ∂/∂p, are related to definitions that have been recently proposed [J. Chem. Phys. 93, 8862 (1990)]. The resulting quantum phase space representation shares many of the mathematical properties of usual representations in coordinate and momentum spaces. Within this representation, time evolution equations for complex-valued functions (wave functions) and their square magnitudes (distribution functions) are derived, and it is shown that the coordinate and momentum space time evolution equations can be recovered by a simple Fourier projection. The phase space quantum probability conservation equation obtained is a good illustration of the quantization rule that requires one to replace the classical Poisson bracket between the Hamiltonian and the probability density with the quantum commutator between the corresponding operators. The possible classical analogs to quantum probabilities densities are also considered and some of the present results are illustrated for the dynamics of the coherent state.
The starting point of the classical description of motion is the Newton equations that yield a phase space trajectory (rN (t), pN (t)) for a given initial condition (rN (0), pN (0)). Alternatively one may describe classical motion in the framework of the Liouville equation (Section (1.2.2)) that describes the time evolution of the phase space probability density f (rN , pN ; t). For a closed system fully described in terms of a well specified initial condition, the two descriptions are completely equivalent. Probabilistic treatment becomes essential in reduced descriptions that focus on parts of an overall system, as was demonstrated in Sections 5.1–5.3 for equilibrium systems, and in Chapters 7 and 8 that focus on the time evolution of classical systems that interact with their thermal environments. This chapter deals with the analogous quantum mechanical problem. Within the limitations imposed by its nature as expressed, for example, by Heisenbergtype uncertainty principles, the Schrödinger equation is deterministic. Obviously it describes a deterministic evolution of the quantum mechanical wavefunction. The analog of the phase space probability density f (rN , pN ; t) is now the quantum mechanical density operator (often referred to as the “density matrix”), whose time evolution is determined by the quantum Liouville equation. Again, when the system is fully described in terms of a well specified initial wavefunction, the two descriptions are equivalent. The density operator formalism can, however, be carried over to situations where the initial state of the system is not well characterized and/or a reduced description of part of the overall system is desired. Such situations are considered later in this chapter.
Corresponding to the Fresnel transform there exists a unitary operator in quantum optics theory, which could be known the Fresnel operator (FO). We show that the multiplication rule of the FO naturally leads to the quantum optical ABCD law. The canonical operator methods as mapping of ray-transfer ABCD matrix is explicitly shown by the normally ordered expansion of the FO through the coherent state representation and the technique of integration within an ordered product of operators. We show that time evolution of the damping oscillator embodies the quantum optical ABCD law.