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Tomographic Description of a Quantum Wave Packet in an Accelerated Frame

Sergio M. De Nicola, Renato Fedele, Dušan Jovanović, Margarita A. Man’ko, Vladimir I. Man’ko

Published May 19, 2021• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The tomography of a single quantum particle (i.e., a quantum wave packet) in an accelerated frame is studied. We write the Schrödinger equation in a moving reference frame in which acceleration is uniform in space and an arbitrary function of time. Then, we reduce such a problem to the study of spatiotemporal evolution of the wave packet in an inertial frame in the presence of a homogeneous force field but with an arbitrary time dependence. We demonstrate the existence of a Gaussian wave packet solution, for which the position and momentum uncertainties are unaffected by the uniform force field. This implies that, similar to in the case of a force-free motion, the uncertainty product is unaffected by acceleration. In addition, according to the Ehrenfest theorem, the wave packet centroid moves according to classic Newton's law of a particle experiencing the effects of uniform acceleration. Furthermore, as in free motion, the wave packet exhibits a diffraction spread in the configuration space but not in momentum space. Then, using Radon transform, we determine the quantum tomogram of the Gaussian state evolution in the accelerated frame. Finally, we characterize the wave packet evolution in the accelerated frame in terms of optical and simplectic tomogram evolution in the related tomographic space.

DOI
10.3390/e23050636

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The tomography of a single quantum particle (i.e., a quantum wave packet) in an accelerated frame is studied. We write the Schrödinger equation in a moving reference frame in which acceleration is uniform in space and an arbitrary function of time. Then, we reduce such a problem to the study of spatiotemporal evolution of the wave packet in an inertial frame in the presence of a homogeneous force field but with an arbitrary time dependence. We demonstrate the existence of a Gaussian wave packet solution, for which the position and momentum uncertainties are unaffected by the uniform force field. This implies that, similar to in the case of a force-free motion, the uncertainty product is unaffected by acceleration. In addition, according to the Ehrenfest theorem, the wave packet centroid moves according to classic Newton's law of a particle experiencing the effects of uniform acceleration. Furthermore, as in free motion, the wave packet exhibits a diffraction spread in the configuration space but not in momentum space. Then, using Radon transform, we determine the quantum tomogram of the Gaussian state evolution in the accelerated frame. Finally, we characterize the wave packet evolution in the accelerated frame in terms of optical and simplectic tomogram evolution in the related tomographic space.
We derive a useful expression for the time-development operator for quantum wave functions, exp(−iĤt/ℏ), for the case of a particle subject to a constant force. We apply it, in both position and momentum space, to construct wave packets that exhibit uniform acceleration. We use these results to generate quantum wave packets corresponding to the motion of a charged particle in a uniform electric field in two different gauges, explicitly demonstrating the change in phase of the wave function under a gauge transformation. The more standard description of the time dependence of accelerating wave packets using the formalism of propagators is briefly reviewed in an Appendix for comparison.
Abstract The standard description of the transition from quantum to classical mechanics presented in most text books is the proof that the quantum expectation values of position and momentum obey equations of Newtonian form. This is the Ehrenfest theorem. It is combined with the requirement that wave packets remain localised to describe a single particle moving according to classical mechanics. Hence, the natural spreading of wave packets is viewed as a quantum effect. In contradiction to this view, here it is argued that the spreading, where different momentum components separate, is the signature of the quantum to classical transition. The asymptotic spatial wave function becomes proportional to the initial momentum space wave function, which mirrors exactly the well-known far-field diffraction pattern in optics. Trajectories, defined as the locus of the normals to the expanding wave front, are used to illustrate the transition from quantum to classical motion. Again this is the analogue of the wave to beam transition in optics. It is suggested that this analysis of the quantum to classical transition should be incorporated routinely into introductory quantum mechanics courses.
In a previous paper, we showed that the Hamilton equations of motion of a quantum particle are obtained as group velocities of the wave packet describing this particle only if the time dependent phase of a particle wave is proportional to the Lagrangian, not to the Hamiltonian as in a solution of the conventional Schrodinger equation. When a Lagrangian of relativistic form is considered, the wave packet of a quantum particle takes a physical form, with a finite spectrum of a cut off velocity (c). Based on a relativistic quantum principle, asserting the invariance of the time dependent phase for an arbitrary change of coordinates, we obtained the relativistic kinematics and dynamics, the electromagnetic field equations, the spin and the electromagnetic and gravitational interactions. When the Lagrangian is considered as a function of the Hamiltonian, we obtain a Schrodinger type equation with an additional term depending on the velocity and the momentum operator. Based on this equation, we investigate the dynamics of a relativistic quantum particle. In this framework, such a particle is described as a continuous distribution of conservative matter, according to the general theory of relativity. In an electromagnetic field, any time dependent phase variation is modified with a term proportional to a vector potential conjugated to the spatial coordinates and a scalar potential conjugated to time. However, this classical description tells us nothing about the structure of the physical world. Only Quantum Mechanics tells us something about the structure of this world. Namely, that this world is composed of species of identical quantum particles. On one hand, experimentally, it has been found that these particles are of a wavy nature. On the other hand, one could find that the simplest way to define a quantum particle is by a wave packet, with momenta conjugated to coordinates and energy conjugated to time Consider a quantum particle as a wave packet, and find that the group velocities in the coordinate and momentum spaces are in agreement with the Hamilton equations only when the Lagrangian is considered in the time dependent phases, instead of the Hamiltonian in the conventional forms of these waves as solutions of the Schrodinger equation. We define a relativistic quantum principle, and derive a wave equation for a relativistic quantum particle, the relativistic kinematics and dynamics of the particle waves, the Maxwell equations and the Lorentz force of a field interacting with the particle waves, the relativistic transform of such a field, and the spin as a characteristic of the particle waves. We consider a quantum particle as a distribution of conservative matter propagating according to the General Theory of Relativity. We obtain the dynamics of this matter in a gravitational field, the propagation in plane waves perpendicular to geodesic tracks, and equations of conservation. We describe the matter dynamics as a positively defined density and show that, according to the general theory of relativity, such a distribution can be conceive only as of a fragment of matter with a finite mass equal to a mass , as a characteristic of the matter dynamics, – the matter quantization. The group velocities of the Fourier conjugate representations in the coordinate and momentum spaces describe the dynamics of a quantum particle in agreement with the Hamiltonian equations. Under the action of an external (non-gravitational) field, the acceleration of the quantum matter has two components: 1) A component perpendicular to the velocity, given by the relativistic mechanical component of the time dependent phase, and 2) A component given by the additional field terms of this phase. A free quantum particle is described by a non-dispersing wave function , contrary to the solution of the Schrodinger equation. A coherent electromagnetic field, in resonance with a system of active quantum particles in a Fabry-Perot cavity, has a wave vector approximately proportional to the metric elements, as the resonance frequency is approximately constant – a gravitational wave can be detected by the transmission characteristics of an active Fabry-Perot cavity. In a constant gravitational field, a quantum particle undertakes a velocity and an acceleration, which, at the boundary of a black hole are null – absorption and evaporation processes at the boundary of a black hole arise only by gravitational perturbations. Generally, a quantum particle is described by a time-space volume, called graviton, with a spin 2, and a distribution of a specific matter in this volume, with a half-integer spin for Fermions and an integer spin for Bosons. A graviton Lagrangian is obtained as a curvature integral on a graviton volume, and a Hamiltonian tensor is obtained for the gravitational coordinates and velocities. In a gravitational field, the time space coordinates are deformed. In such a field, any plane wave remains perpendicular geodesic, while an additional acceleration is possible in the wave plane.
The physics of special relativity is applied to a wave-packet model of a particle without the usual de Broglie-like assumption of Planck's rule, E = hv. The velocity of the particle is equated to the group-velocity of the wave-packet to associate the particle with its wave-packet. With such an identification it is demonstrated using special relativity that the momentum four-vector, P = [p, E/c2] of the particle is parallel and proportional to a central wave-number four-vector, K0 = [k0. ω0/c2], of the particle's wave-packet. The constant of proportionality, relating these two four-vectors, has the dimension of action and by diffraction experiments it has the value h/2π where h is Planck's constant. This refinement of the de Broglie wave-like nature of a particle suggests that special relativity underlies quantum physics more deeply than heretofore believed. The above quantum rules are used to find the wave-packet function in the one-dimensional case of a non-relativistic free particle and a particle in a conservative force field of potential V (x). This wave-packet function is shown to satisfy an integral time-evolution equation which relates the wave function at time t0 to the function at a slightly later time t. The resulting integral equation is equivalent to the propagator equation or path-integral hypothesised by Feynman. This fact also demonstrates, using the method of Feynman, that the wave-packet function satisfies Schrödinger's partial differential equation. The wave-packet function of a particle in a force field is directly shown to satisfy a linear integral equation which relates the wave-packet at one instant of time to its values at all later times. The kernel or propagator of this integral equation is also equivalent to Feynman's path integral. A computation demonstrates that the position of a moving particle in a simple quadratic potential well does not become more uncertain with the passage of time. This contrasts with the behaviour of a moving free particle which as a function of time becomes more and more difficult to accurately locate.
We develop methodology for performing time dependent quantum mechanical calculations by representing the wave function as a sum of Gaussian wave packets (GWP) each characterized by a set of parameters such as width, position, momentum, and phase. The problem of computing the time evolution of the wave function is thus reduced to that of finding the time evolution of the parameters in the Gaussians. This parameter motion is determined by minimizing the error made by replacing the exact wave function in the time dependent Schrödinger equation with its Gaussian representation approximant. This leads to first order differential equations for the time dependence of the parameters, and those describing the packet position and the momentum of each packet have some resemblance with the classical equations of motion. The paper studies numerically the strategy needed to achieve the best GWP representation of time dependent processes. The issues discussed are the representation of the initial wave function, the numerical stability and the solution of the differential equations giving the evolution of the parameters, and the analysis of the final wave function. Extensive comparisons are made with an approximate method which assumes that the Gaussians are independent and their width is smaller than the length scale over which the potential changes. This approximation greatly simplifies the calculations and has the advantage of a greater resemblance to classical mechanics, thus being more intuitive. We find, however, that its range of applications is limited to problems involving localized degrees of freedom that participate in the dynamic process for a very short time. Finally we give particular attention to the notion that the GWP representation of the wave function reduces the dynamics of one quantum degree of freedom to that of a set of pseudoparticles (each represented by one packet) moving according to a pseudoclassical (i.e., classical-like) mechanics whose ‘‘phase space’’ is described by a position and momentum as well as a complex phase and width.