Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Journal of Mathematical Physics

Quantum dynamics in phase space: Moyal trajectories 3

G. Braunss

Published Jun 1, 2017• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present in this paper a new approach to the calculation of Moyal trajectories, which delivers straightforwardly the dynamical equations that determine these trajectories. We demonstrate this with three examples: the anharmonic oscillator with a Hamiltonian h(p, q) = p2/2 + q4/4, the physical pendulum with a Hamiltonian h(p,q)=p2/2+cos(q), and the Hènon-Heiles system with a Hamiltonian h(p1,p2,q1,q2)=(p12 + p22)/2 + (q12 + q22)/2 + q2(q12 − q22/3).

DOI
10.1063/1.4984592

Related papers

Quantum dynamics in phase space: Moyal trajectories 2

G. Braunss

Continuing a previous paper [G. Braunss, J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 43, 025302 (2010)10.1088/1751-8113/43/2/025302] where we had calculated ℏ2-approximations of quantum phase space viz. Moyal trajectories of examples with one and two degrees of freedom, we present in this paper the calculation of ℏ2-approximations for four examples: a two-dimensional Toda chain, the radially symmetric Schwarzschild field, and two examples with three degrees of freedom, the latter being the nonrelativistic spherically Coulomb potential and the relativistic cylinder symmetrical Coulomb potential with a magnetic field H. We show in particular that an ℏ2-approximation of the nonrelativistic Coulomb field has no singularity at the origin (r = 0) whereas the classical trajectories are singular at r = 0. In the third example, we show in particular that for an arbitrary function γ(H, z) the expression β ≡ pz + γ(H, z) is classically (ℏ = 0) a constant of motion, whereas for ℏ ≠ 0 this holds only if γ(H, z) is an arbitrary polynomial of second order in z. This statement is shown to extend correspondingly to a cylinder symmetrical Schwarzschild field with a magnetic field. We exhibit in detail a number of properties of the radially symmetric Schwarzschild field. We exhibit finally the problems of the nonintegrable Hénon-Heiles Hamiltonian and give a short review of the regular Hilbert space representation of Moyal operators.

Journal of Mathematical Physics•Jan 1, 2013•3 citations

Features of Moyal Trajectories

Nuno Costa Dias, João Nuno Prata

We study the Moyal evolution of the canonical position and momentum variables. We compare it with the classical evolution and show that, contrary to what is commonly found in the literature, the two dynamics do not coincide. We prove that this divergence is quite general by studying Hamiltonians of the form $p^2 /2m + V(q)$. Several alternative formulations of Moyal dynamics are then suggested. We introduce the concept of starfunction and use it to reformulate the Moyal equations in terms of a system of ordinary differential equations on the noncommutative Moyal plane. We then use this formulation to study the semiclassical expansion of Moyal trajectories, which is cast in terms of a (order by order in $\\hbar$) recursive hierarchy of i) first order partial differential equations as well as ii) systems of first order ordinary differential equations. The latter formulation is derived independently for analytic Hamiltonians as well as for the more general case of smooth local integrable ones. We present various examples illustrating these results.

•Apr 22, 2006•14 citations

Moyal phase-space analysis of nonlinear optical Kerr media

T. A. Osborn, Karl-Peter Marzlin

Nonlinear optical media of Kerr type are described by a particular version of an anharmonic quantum harmonic oscillator. The dynamics of this system can be described using the Moyal equations of motion, which correspond to a quantum phase-space representation of the Heisenberg equations of motion. For the Kerr system we derive exact solutions of the Moyal equations for an irreducible set of observables. These Moyal solutions incorporate the asymptotics of the classical limit in a simple, explicit form. An unusual feature of these solutions is that they exhibit periodic singularities in the time variable. These singularities are removed by the phase-space averaging required to construct the expectation value for an arbitrary initial state. Nevertheless, for strongly number-squeezed initial states the effects of the singularity remain observable.

arXiv:0905.3530•Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical•Sep 22, 2009•7 citations

Moyal quantum mechanics: the semiclassical Heisenberg dynamics

T. A. Osborn, Molzahn, F H

The Moyal description of quantum mechanics, based on the Wigner-Weyl isomorphism between operators and symbols, provides a comprehensive phase space representation of dynamics. The Weyl symbol image of the Heisenberg picture evolution operator is regular in ħ and so presents a preferred foundation for semiclassical analysis. Its semiclassical expansion "coefficients," acting on symbols that represent observables, are simple, globally defined (phase space) differential operators constructed in terms of the classical flow. The first of two presented methods introduces a cluster-graph expansion for the symbol of an exponentiated operator, which extends Groenewold′s formula for the Weyl product of two symbols and has ħ as its natural small parameter. This Poisson bracket based cluster expansion determines the Jacobi equations for the semiclassical expansion of "quantum trajectories." Their Green function solutions construct the regular ħ ⇓ 0 asymptotic series for the Heisenberg-Weyl evolution map. The second method directly substitutes such a series into the Moyal equation of motion and determines the ħ coefficients recursively. In contrast to the WKB approximation for propagators, the Heisenberg-Weyl description of evolution involves no essential singularity in ħ, no Hamilton-Jacobi equation to solve for the action, and no multiple trajectories, caustics, or Maslov indices.

•Jan 1, 1994•46 citations

Moyal equation—Wigner distribution functions for anharmonic oscillators

Trong Tuong Truong

We investigate the structure of Wigner distribution functions of energy eigenstates of quartic and sextic anharmonic oscillators. The corresponding Moyal equations are shown to be solvable, revealing new properties of Schrödinger eigenfunctions of these oscillators. In particular, they provide alternative approaches to their determination and corresponding eigenenergies, away from the conventional differential equation method, which usually relies on the not so widely known bi- and tri-confluent Heun functions.

Journal of Mathematical Physics•Oct 1, 2021•1 citation

Quadratic Hamiltonians in phase-space quantum mechanics

Manuel Gadella, José M. Gracia-Bondı́a, Luis Miguel Nieto +1 more

The dynamical evolution is described within the phase-space formalism by means of the Moyal propagator, which is the symbol of the evolution operator. Quadratic Hamiltonians on the phase space are distinguished in that their Moyal bracket with any function equals their Poisson bracket. It is shown that, for general time-independent quadratic Hamiltonians, the Moyal propagators transform covariantly under linear canonical transformations; they are then derived and classified in a fully explicit manner using the theory of Hamiltonian normal forms. The authors present several tables of propagators. It is proved that these propagators belong to the Moyal algebra of distributions, and that the spectrum of the Hamiltonian may be obtained directly as the support of the Fourier transform of the Moyal propagator with respect to time. From that, the quantum-mechanical problem for these Hamiltonians is, in principle, completely solved. The appropriate path-integral formalism for phase-space quantum mechanics, leading back to the same results, is outlined in an appendix.

Journal of Physics A Mathematical and General•Jul 21, 1989•27 citations
We present in this paper a new approach to the calculation of Moyal trajectories, which delivers straightforwardly the dynamical equations that determine these trajectories. We demonstrate this with three examples: the anharmonic oscillator with a Hamiltonian h(p, q) = p2/2 + q4/4, the physical pendulum with a Hamiltonian h(p,q)=p2/2+cos(q), and the Hènon-Heiles system with a Hamiltonian h(p1,p2,q1,q2)=(p12 + p22)/2 + (q12 + q22)/2 + q2(q12 − q22/3).
Continuing a previous paper [G. Braunss, J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 43, 025302 (2010)10.1088/1751-8113/43/2/025302] where we had calculated ℏ2-approximations of quantum phase space viz. Moyal trajectories of examples with one and two degrees of freedom, we present in this paper the calculation of ℏ2-approximations for four examples: a two-dimensional Toda chain, the radially symmetric Schwarzschild field, and two examples with three degrees of freedom, the latter being the nonrelativistic spherically Coulomb potential and the relativistic cylinder symmetrical Coulomb potential with a magnetic field H. We show in particular that an ℏ2-approximation of the nonrelativistic Coulomb field has no singularity at the origin (r = 0) whereas the classical trajectories are singular at r = 0. In the third example, we show in particular that for an arbitrary function γ(H, z) the expression β ≡ pz + γ(H, z) is classically (ℏ = 0) a constant of motion, whereas for ℏ ≠ 0 this holds only if γ(H, z) is an arbitrary polynomial of second order in z. This statement is shown to extend correspondingly to a cylinder symmetrical Schwarzschild field with a magnetic field. We exhibit in detail a number of properties of the radially symmetric Schwarzschild field. We exhibit finally the problems of the nonintegrable Hénon-Heiles Hamiltonian and give a short review of the regular Hilbert space representation of Moyal operators.
We study the Moyal evolution of the canonical position and momentum variables. We compare it with the classical evolution and show that, contrary to what is commonly found in the literature, the two dynamics do not coincide. We prove that this divergence is quite general by studying Hamiltonians of the form p2/2m+V(q)p^2 /2m + V(q)p2/2m+V(q). Several alternative formulations of Moyal dynamics are then suggested. We introduce the concept of starfunction and use it to reformulate the Moyal equations in terms of a system of ordinary differential equations on the noncommutative Moyal plane. We then use this formulation to study the semiclassical expansion of Moyal trajectories, which is cast in terms of a (order by order in hbar\\hbarhbar) recursive hierarchy of i) first order partial differential equations as well as ii) systems of first order ordinary differential equations. The latter formulation is derived independently for analytic Hamiltonians as well as for the more general case of smooth local integrable ones. We present various examples illustrating these results.
Nonlinear optical media of Kerr type are described by a particular version of an anharmonic quantum harmonic oscillator. The dynamics of this system can be described using the Moyal equations of motion, which correspond to a quantum phase-space representation of the Heisenberg equations of motion. For the Kerr system we derive exact solutions of the Moyal equations for an irreducible set of observables. These Moyal solutions incorporate the asymptotics of the classical limit in a simple, explicit form. An unusual feature of these solutions is that they exhibit periodic singularities in the time variable. These singularities are removed by the phase-space averaging required to construct the expectation value for an arbitrary initial state. Nevertheless, for strongly number-squeezed initial states the effects of the singularity remain observable.
The Moyal description of quantum mechanics, based on the Wigner-Weyl isomorphism between operators and symbols, provides a comprehensive phase space representation of dynamics. The Weyl symbol image of the Heisenberg picture evolution operator is regular in ħ and so presents a preferred foundation for semiclassical analysis. Its semiclassical expansion "coefficients," acting on symbols that represent observables, are simple, globally defined (phase space) differential operators constructed in terms of the classical flow. The first of two presented methods introduces a cluster-graph expansion for the symbol of an exponentiated operator, which extends Groenewold′s formula for the Weyl product of two symbols and has ħ as its natural small parameter. This Poisson bracket based cluster expansion determines the Jacobi equations for the semiclassical expansion of "quantum trajectories." Their Green function solutions construct the regular ħ ⇓ 0 asymptotic series for the Heisenberg-Weyl evolution map. The second method directly substitutes such a series into the Moyal equation of motion and determines the ħ coefficients recursively. In contrast to the WKB approximation for propagators, the Heisenberg-Weyl description of evolution involves no essential singularity in ħ, no Hamilton-Jacobi equation to solve for the action, and no multiple trajectories, caustics, or Maslov indices.
We investigate the structure of Wigner distribution functions of energy eigenstates of quartic and sextic anharmonic oscillators. The corresponding Moyal equations are shown to be solvable, revealing new properties of Schrödinger eigenfunctions of these oscillators. In particular, they provide alternative approaches to their determination and corresponding eigenenergies, away from the conventional differential equation method, which usually relies on the not so widely known bi- and tri-confluent Heun functions.
The dynamical evolution is described within the phase-space formalism by means of the Moyal propagator, which is the symbol of the evolution operator. Quadratic Hamiltonians on the phase space are distinguished in that their Moyal bracket with any function equals their Poisson bracket. It is shown that, for general time-independent quadratic Hamiltonians, the Moyal propagators transform covariantly under linear canonical transformations; they are then derived and classified in a fully explicit manner using the theory of Hamiltonian normal forms. The authors present several tables of propagators. It is proved that these propagators belong to the Moyal algebra of distributions, and that the spectrum of the Hamiltonian may be obtained directly as the support of the Fourier transform of the Moyal propagator with respect to time. From that, the quantum-mechanical problem for these Hamiltonians is, in principle, completely solved. The appropriate path-integral formalism for phase-space quantum mechanics, leading back to the same results, is outlined in an appendix.