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Free quantum motion exactly equals sub-quantum ballistic diffusion

Gerhard Grössing, Siegfried Fussy, J Mesa Pascasio, Herbert Schwabl

Published May 6, 2010• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

By modelling quantum systems as emerging from a (classical) sub-quantum thermodynamics, the quantum mechanical decay of the wave is shown to simply result from sub-quantum diffusion with a specific diffusion coefficient varying in time due to a particle's changing thermal environment. It is thereby proven that free quantum motion strictly equals ballistic diffusion. The exact quantum mechanical trajectory distributions and the velocity field of the Gaussian wave packet are thus derived solely from classical physics. Moreover, also quantum motion in a linear (e.g., gravitational) potential is shown to equal said ballistic diffusion. Quantitative statements on the trajectories' characteristic behaviours are obtained which provide a detailed micro-causal explanation in full accordance with momentum conservation.

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By modelling quantum systems as emerging from a (classical) sub-quantum thermodynamics, the quantum mechanical decay of the wave is shown to simply result from sub-quantum diffusion with a specific diffusion coefficient varying in time due to a particle's changing thermal environment. It is thereby proven that free quantum motion strictly equals ballistic diffusion. The exact quantum mechanical trajectory distributions and the velocity field of the Gaussian wave packet are thus derived solely from classical physics. Moreover, also quantum motion in a linear (e.g., gravitational) potential is shown to equal said ballistic diffusion. Quantitative statements on the trajectories' characteristic behaviours are obtained which provide a detailed micro-causal explanation in full accordance with momentum conservation.
By modelling quantum systems as emerging from a (classical) sub-quantum thermodynamics, the quantum mechanical "decay of the wave packet" is shown to simply result from sub-quantum diffusion with a specific diffusion coefficient varying in time due to a particle's changing thermal environment. It is thereby proven that free quantum motion strictly equals ballistic diffusion. The exact quantum mechanical trajectory distributions and the velocity field of the Gaussian wave packet are thus derived solely from classical physics. Moreover, also quantum motion in a linear (e.g., gravitational) potential is shown to equal said ballistic diffusion. Quantitative statements on the trajectories' characteristic behaviours are obtained which provide a detailed "micro-causal" explanation in full accordance with momentum conservation.
Based on a proposed classical explanation, the quantum mechanical "decay of the wave packet" is shown to simply result from sub-quantum diffusion with a specific diffusivity varying in time due to a particle's changing thermal environment. The exact quantum mechanical intensity distribution, as well as the corresponding trajectory distribution and the velocity field of a Gaussian wave packet are therewith computed. We utilize no quantum mechanics, but only familiar simulation techniques for diffusion, e.g., finite differences or coupled map lattices (CML).
A research program within the scope of theories on "Emergent Quantum Mechanics" is presented, which has gained some momentum in recent years. Via the modeling of a quantum system as a non-equilibrium steady-state maintained by a permanent throughput of energy from the zero-point vacuum, the quantum is considered as an emergent system. We implement a specific "bouncer-walker" model in the context of an assumed sub-quantum statistical physics, in analogy to the results of experiments by Couder and Fort on a classical wave-particle duality. We can thus give an explanation of various quantum mechanical features and results on the basis of a "21st century classical physics", such as the appearance of Planck's constant, the Schrödinger equation, etc. An essential result is given by the proof that averaged particle trajectories' behaviors correspond to a specific type of anomalous diffusion termed "ballistic" diffusion on a sub-quantum level. It is further demonstrated both analytically and with the aid of computer simulations that our model provides explanations for various quantum effects such as double-slit or n-slit interference. We show the averaged trajectories emerging from our model to be identical to Bohmian trajectories, albeit without the need to invoke complex wavefunctions or any other quantum mechanical tool. Finally, the model provides new insights into the origins of entanglement, and, in particular, into the phenomenon of a "systemic" non-locality.
Quantum diffusion (QD) is studied via dissipative Madelung hydrodynamics. Initially, the wave packet spreads ballistically, then passes for an instant through normal diffusion and later tends asymptotically to a sub-diffusive law. It is shown that the apparent QD coefficient is not a universal physical parameter because it depends on the initial wave packet preparation. The overdamped QD of an electron in the field of a periodic potential is also investigated; in this case, the wave packet spreads logarithmically in time. Thermo-QD of heavier particles such as hydrogen, deuterium and tritium atoms in periodic potentials is studied and a simple estimate of the tunneling effect is obtained in the framework of a quasi-equilibrium semiclassical approach. The effective thermo-quantum temperature is also discussed in relation to the known temperature dependence of muon diffusivity in solids.
Abstract The free propagation in time of a normalisable wave packet is the oldest problem of continuum quantum mechanics. Its motion from microscopic to macroscopic distance is the way in which most quantum systems are detected experimentally. Although much studied and analysed since 1927 and presented in many textbooks, here the problem is re‐appraised from the standpoint of semi‐classical mechanics. Particular aspects are the emergence of deterministic trajectories of particles emanating from a region of atomic dimension and the interpretation of the wave function as describing a single particle or an ensemble of identical particles. Of possible wave packets, that of Gaussian form is most studied due to the simple exact form of the time‐dependent solution in real and in momentum space. Furthermore, this form is important in laser optics. Here the equivalence of the time‐dependent Schrödinger equation to the paraxial equation for the propagation of light is demonstrated explicitly. This parallel helps to understand the relevance of trajectory concepts and the conditions necessary for the perception of quantum motion as classical. Key Points The paper addresses a problem of fundamental quantum mechanics, important in both physics and chemistry. Within physics, the subject is relevant to the disciplines of both quantum mechanics and classical optics. The matter presented is topical also for researchers in the history and philosophy of physics.
In the first paper of this series, I investigated whether a wavefunction model of a heavy particle and a collection of light particles might generate "Brownian-Motion-Like" trajectories of the heavy particle. I concluded that it was possible, but left unsettled the second claim in Einstein's classical program: diffusive motion, proportional to the square-root of time, as opposed to ballistic motion, proportional to the time. In this paper, I derive a criterion for diffusive motion, as well as an expression for the diffusion coefficient. Unfortunately, as in paper I, no exact solutions are available for the models, making checking the criterion difficult. But a virtue of the method employed here is that, given adequate information about model eigenvalues and eigenfunctions, diffusion can be definitively ruled in or out.