In this paper we discuss various geometric aspects related to the Schrödinger and the Pauli equations. First we resume the Madelung–Bohm hydrodynamical approach to quantum mechanics and recall the Hamiltonian structure of the Schrödinger equation. The probability current provides an equivariant moment map for the group [Formula: see text] of volume-preserving diffeomorphisms of [Formula: see text] (rapidly approaching the identity at infinity) and leads to a current algebra of Rasetti–Regge type. The moment map picture is then extended, mutatis mutandis, to the Pauli equation and to generalized Schrödinger equations of the Pauli–Thomas type. A gauge theoretical reinterpretation of all equations is obtained via the introduction of suitable Maurer–Cartan gauge fields and it is then related to Weyl geometric and pilot wave ideas. A general framework accommodating Aharonov–Bohm and Aharonov–Casher effects is presented within the gauge approach. Furthermore, a kind of holomorphic geometric quantization can be performed and yields natural “coherent state” representations of [Formula: see text]. The relationship with the covariant phase space and density manifold approaches is then outlined. Comments on possible extensions to nonlinear Schrödinger equations, on Fisher-information theoretic aspects and on stochastic mechanics are finally made.
In this paper we discuss various geometric aspects related to the Schrödinger and the Pauli equations. First we resume the Madelung–Bohm hydrodynamical approach to quantum mechanics and recall the Hamiltonian structure of the Schrödinger equation. The probability current provides an equivariant moment map for the group [Formula: see text] of volume-preserving diffeomorphisms of [Formula: see text] (rapidly approaching the identity at infinity) and leads to a current algebra of Rasetti–Regge type. The moment map picture is then extended, mutatis mutandis, to the Pauli equation and to generalized Schrödinger equations of the Pauli–Thomas type. A gauge theoretical reinterpretation of all equations is obtained via the introduction of suitable Maurer–Cartan gauge fields and it is then related to Weyl geometric and pilot wave ideas. A general framework accommodating Aharonov–Bohm and Aharonov–Casher effects is presented within the gauge approach. Furthermore, a kind of holomorphic geometric quantization can be performed and yields natural “coherent state” representations of [Formula: see text]. The relationship with the covariant phase space and density manifold approaches is then outlined. Comments on possible extensions to nonlinear Schrödinger equations, on Fisher-information theoretic aspects and on stochastic mechanics are finally made.
Quantum hydrodynamics described by Madelung equations is analyzed in the framework of symplectic geometry i.e. in covariant phase space approach to geometric field theory. The pre-symplectic manifolds providing the phase spaces describing the Hamiltonian dynamics of quantum fluid are constructed from the set of all solutions of Madelung equations and their corresponding Lagrangian densities. The Madelung equations under consideration are the Madelung equations associated to Schroedinger equations (in the nonrelativistic case) and Madelung equations associated to Klein–Gordon equations (in the relativistic case). The cases where the coupling with electromagnetic fields is present are also considered here. Our symplectic formulation is different from that of [M. Spera, Moment map and gauge geometric aspects of the Schrodinger and Pauli equations, Int. J. Geom. Methods Mod. Phys. 13 (2016) 1–36] in the choice of fundamental fields or variables. Here we regard density function [Formula: see text] and phase function [Formula: see text] not as canonical pair but as the fundamental fields of the theory. The Hamiltonian vector fields corresponding to an observable are obtained from the Hamiltonian equation generated by the observable. The Poisson bracket of two observables then is determined by the Hamiltonian vector fields associated to each observable. In general, the Poisson bracket of two observables is not unique due to the fact that every observable has more than one corresponding Hamiltonian vector field. It is pointed out that the Poisson bracket has a unique value over a certain subset of the set of all observables defined on the pre-symplectic manifold of the Madelung equation under consideration.
We describe the Poisson geometry of the Madelung transform between quantum mechanics and hydrodynamics for generic wave functions. We prove that for arbitrary oriented manifolds this transform, being regarded as a momentum map, naturally defines prequantum bundles for coadjoint orbits of semidirect extensions of diffeomorphism groups. Furthermore, we show that the Madelung framework provides a natural infinite-dimensional version of the convexity results for Hamiltonian torus actions, thus giving a partial answer to Atiyah's question. In particular, for wave functions without zeros our results provide a Kähler map between the infinite-dimensional Fubini--Study and Fisher--Rao geometries, thus extending previous results to non-simply-connected manifolds. Furthermore, for wave functions with noncritical zeros, the Madelung transform is shown to be a symplectomorphism to the coadjoint orbits with Morse--Bott densities. The latter, in turn, furnishes a novel momentum map point of view on the Wallstrom quantization condition for the hydrodynamical form of quantum mechanics. We also comment on the relation between the Madelung setting and the Marsden--Weinstein symplectic structures on knots and membranes.
In this work, the topological and geometrical structure of the evolution equations of physical systems is treated and analyzed from the point of view of the set of solutions, in particular the singular ones. To this end, a generalization of the Wigner function is introduced for the case of multidimensional quadratic Hamiltonians of the type of our previous work [A. I. Aptekarev, Yu. G. Rykov and D. J. Cirilo-Lombardo, Diffeomorphic structure of evolution equations, J. Geom. Phys. 202 (2024) 105234]. The phase space solutions from the generalized Wigner equation are compared with those from the Schrodinger-type equation where the Madelung transformation was introduced. We show that singular delta-type solutions coming from the Wigner–Liouville system certainly exist, intuiting accordingly that they could be mapped to a hydrodynamic representation, in sharp contrast with the Schrodinger (wave mechanical) case, where delta-like solutions become inconsistent. This is achieved by considering a topological limit to the coherent subspace of solutions of the Wigner–Liouville equation, where the kernel (acting as quasidistribution) of these new coherent functions (coherent states) takes the main role. Our results are compared in the context of the wave mechanical approach to cosmic structure formation considering the Zeldovich approach of [P. Coles and K. Spencer, A wave-mechanical approach to cosmic structure formation, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 342 (2003) 176]. The possibility of obtaining a one-to-one functional relationship between the singular solution space of the hydrodynamic system and the Wigner–Liouville one is briefly discussed.
Quantum mechanics is conventionally formulated in terms of complex Hilbert spaces, linear operators, and the Schrödinger equation. Although geometric structures play an increasingly important role in modern formulations of quantum theory, the wavefunction itself is generally regarded as a fundamental object. In this work, we investigate an alternative formulation in which the fundamental object is a coherence coordinate , where Omega represents radial coherence and Theta represents phase coherence associated with geometric transport. Starting from three assumptions—a coherence coordinate, a probability density generated by radial coherence, and a geometric Hamiltonian—we reconstruct the continuity equation, the quantum Hamilton–Jacobi equation, and ultimately the Schrödinger equation. Within this framework, the wavefunction appears as a derived quantity, while Hilbert spaces emerge naturally as spaces of square-integrable functions on a coherence manifold. The resulting construction establishes a differential-geometric representation of quantum mechanics and provides a common geometric language connecting quantum states, probability flow, geometric phases, holonomies, and gauge transport.
Starting with the quantum Liouville equation, we write the density operator as the product of elements respectively in the left and right ideals of an operator algebra and find that the Schrodinger picture may be expressed through two representation independent algebraic forms in terms of the density and phase operators. These forms are respectively the continuity equation, which involves the commutator of the Hamiltonian with the density operator, and an equation for the time development of the phase operator that involves the anti-commutator of the Hamiltonian with this density operator. We show that this latter equation plays two important roles: (i) it expresses the conservation of energy in a system where energy is well defined and (ii) it provides a simple way to evaluate the gauge changes that occur in the Aharonov-Bohm, the Aharonov-Casher, and Berry phase effects. Both these operator (i.e. purely algebraic) equations also allow us to re-examine the Bohm interpretation, showing that it is in fact possible to construct Bohm interpretations in representations other than the x-representation. We discuss the meaning of the Bohm interpretation in the light of these new results in terms of non-commutative structures and this enables us to clarify its relation to standard quantum mechanics.
The differential geometric structure of a Fréchet manifold of densities is developed, providing a geometrical framework for quantization related to Nelson’s stochastic mechanics. The Riemannian and symplectic structures of the density manifold are studied, and the Schrödinger equation is derived from a variational principle. By a theorem of Moser, the density manifold is an infinite dimensional homogeneous space, being the quotient of the group of diffeomorphisms of the underlying base manifold modulo the group of diffeomorphisms which preserve the Riemannian volume. From this structure and symplectic reduction, the quantization procedure is equivalent to Lie-Poisson equations on the dual of a semidirect product Lie algebra. A Poisson map is obtained between the dual of this Lie algebra and the underlying projective Hilbert space.