Semi-Classical Mechanics

Kenichi Konishi, Giampiero Paffuti

Abstract In this chapter we study the limit ħ → 0 of quantum mechanics. The passage from quantum mechanics to classical mechanics involves precisely this limit, and the approximation schemes developed for small ħ are known as the semi-classical approximation. The semi-classical approximation has a predecessor: the so-called old quantum theory. Many of the questions concerning the connection between the quantum and classical mechanics were already raised during the years of foundation of quantum mechanics, 1900–1927, but satisfactory answers have not always been obtained.

Jakob Schwichtenberg

Dirk-André Deckert, Leopold Kellers, Travis Norsen +1 more

Bohmian mechanics is an alternative to standard quantum mechanics that does not suffer from the measurement problem. While it agrees with standard quantum mechanics concerning its experimental predictions, it offers novel types of approximations not suggested by the latter. Of particular interest are semi-classical approximations, where part of the system is treated classically. Bohmian semi-classical approximations have been explored before for systems without electromagnetic interactions. Here, the Rabi model is considered as a simple model involving light-matter interaction. This model describes a single mode electromagnetic field interacting with a two-level atom. As is well-known, the quantum treatment and the semi-classical treatment (where the field is treated classically rather than quantum mechanically) give qualitatively different results. We analyze the Rabi model using a different semi-classical approximation based on Bohmian mechanics. In this approximation, the back-reaction from the two-level atom onto the classical field is mediated by the Bohmian configuration of the two-level atom. We find that the Bohmian semi-classical approximation gives results comparable to the usual mean field one for the transition between ground and first excited state. Both semi-classical approximations tend to reproduce the collapse of the population inversion, but fail to reproduce the revival, which is characteristic of the full quantum description. Also an example of a higher excited state is presented where the Bohmian approximation does not perform so well.

Jakob Schwichtenberg

Ward Struyve

Semi-classical theories are approximations to quantum theory that treat some degrees of freedom classically and others quantum mechanically. In the usual approach, the quantum degrees of freedom are described by a wave function which evolves according to some Schrödinger equation with a Hamiltonian that depends on the classical degrees of freedom. The classical degrees of freedom satisfy classical equations that depend on the expectation values of quantum operators. In this paper, we study an alternative approach based on Bohmian mechanics. In Bohmian mechanics the quantum system is not only described by the wave function, but also with additional variables such as particle positions or fields. By letting the classical equations of motion depend on these variables, rather than the quantum expectation values, a semi-classical approximation is obtained that is closer to the exact quantum results than the usual approach. We discuss the Bohmian semi-classical approximation in various contexts, such as nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity. The main motivation comes from quantum gravity. The quest for a quantum theory for gravity is still going on. Therefore a semi-classical approach where gravity is treated classically may be an approximation that already captures some quantum gravitational aspects. The Bohmian semi-classical theories will be derived from the full Bohmian theories. In the case there are gauge symmetries, like in quantum electrodynamics or quantum gravity, special care is required. In order to derive a consistent semi-classical theory it will be necessary to isolate gauge-independent dependent degrees of freedom from gauge degrees of freedom and consider the approximation where some of the former are considered classical.