We prove that the Bohmian arrival time of the one-dimensional Schrödinger evolution violates the quadratic form structure on which Kijowski's axiomatic treatment of arrival times is based. Within Kijowski's framework, for a free right moving wave packet Ψ, the various notions of arrival time (at a fixed point x on the real line) all yield the same average arrival time . We derive the inequality relating the average Bohmian arrival time to that of Kijowksi. We prove that if and only if Ψ leads to position probability backflow through x .
We prove that the Bohmian arrival time of the one-dimensional Schrödinger evolution violates the quadratic form structure on which Kijowski's axiomatic treatment of arrival times is based. Within Kijowski's framework, for a free right moving wave packet Ψ, the various notions of arrival time (at a fixed point x on the real line) all yield the same average arrival time . We derive the inequality relating the average Bohmian arrival time to that of Kijowksi. We prove that if and only if Ψ leads to position probability backflow through x .
We prove that the Bohmian arrival time of the 1D Schroedinger evolution violates the quadratic form structure on which Kijowski's axiomatic treatment of arrival times is based. Within Kijowski's framework, for a free right moving wave packet, the various notions of arrival time (at a fixed point x on the real line) all yield the same average arrival time. We derive an inequality relating the average Bohmian arrival time to the one of Kijowksi. We prove that the average Bohmian arrival time is less than Kijowski's one if and only if the wave packet leads to position probability backflow through x. Otherwise the two average arrival times coincide.
We contrast the average arrival time at x according to the Bohmian mechanics of one dimensional free Schrödinger evolution with the standard quantum mechanical one. For positive momentum wave functions the first cannot be larger than the second one. Equality holds if and only if the wave function does not lead to position probability backflow through x. This position probability backflow has the least upper bound of approximately 0.04. We describe a numerical method to determine this backflow constant, introduced by Bracken and Melloy, more precisely and we illustrate the approximate wave function of maximal backflow.
We revisit the arguments underlying two well-known arrival-time distributions in quantum mechanics, viz., the Aharonov–Bohm–Kijowski (ABK) distribution, applicable for freely moving particles, and the quantum flux (QF) distribution. An inconsistency in the original axiomatic derivation of Kijowski’s result is pointed out, along with an inescapable consequence of the ‘negative arrival times’ inherent to this proposal (and generalizations thereof). The ABK free-particle restriction is lifted in a discussion of an explicit arrival-time set-up featuring a charged particle moving in a constant magnetic field. A natural generalization of the ABK distribution is in this case shown to be critically gauge-dependent. A direct comparison to the QF distribution, which does not exhibit this flaw, is drawn (its acknowledged drawback concerning the quantum backflow effect notwithstanding).
Quantum backflow refers here to the appearance of a negative Schrödinger current for a state whose momentum support is entirely positive. We ask for the smallest modification of the free Schrödinger current that makes it nonnegative for every such state, while preserving the current of each individual momentum component. We show that the required minimal modification changes the free-particle momentum kernel according to KSch(p,p′)=2mp+p′⟶Kmin(p,p′)=mpp′. The resulting current is positive and normalized and therefore defines an arrival-time POVM. Extending the directional no-backflow requirement to states containing both momentum signs forces the cross-sector kernel to vanish, Kmin+−=Kmin−+=0, so that the full current is the sum of two independent directional contributions. The resulting POVM is exactly the Kijowski time-of-arrival POVM, providing a current-based physical motivation for both its directional kernels and their separation. Within the diagonal-preserving pairwise-minimal construction considered here, the result is unique. The construction itself does not impose a first-arrival condition.
In a recent paper Grot, Rovelli, and Tate (GRT) [Phys. Rev. A 54, 4676 (1996)] derived an expression for the probability distribution $\ensuremath{\pi}(T;X)$ of intrinsic arrival times T(X) at position x=X for a quantum particle with initial wave function $\ensuremath{\psi}(x,t=0)$ freely evolving in one dimension. This was done by quantizing the classical expression for the time of arrival of a free particle at X, assuming a particular choice of operator ordering, and then regulating the resulting time of arrival operator. For the special case of a minimum-uncertainty-product wave packet at t=0 with average wave number 〈k〉 and variance $\ensuremath{\Delta}k$ they showed that their analytical expression for $\ensuremath{\pi}(T;X)$ agreed with the probability current density J(x=X,t=T) only to terms of order $\ensuremath{\Delta}k/〈k〉.$ They dismissed the probability current density as a viable candidate for the exact arrival time distribution on the grounds that it can sometimes be negative. This fact is not a problem within Bohmian mechanics where the arrival time distribution for a particle, either free or in the presence of a potential, is rigorously given by ∣J(X,T)∣ (suitably normalized) [W. R. McKinnon and C. R. Leavens, Phys. Rev. A 51, 2748 (1995); C. R. Leavens, Phys. Lett. A 178, 27 (1993); M. Daumer et al., in On Three Levels: The Mathematical Physics of Micro-, Meso-, and Macro-Approaches to Physics, edited by M. Fannes et al. (Plenum, New York, 1994); M. Daumer, in Bohmian Mechanics and Quantum Theory: An Appraisal, edited by J. T. Cushing et al. (Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 1996)]. The two theories are compared in this paper and a case presented for which the results could not differ more: According to GRT's theory, every particle in the ensemble reaches a point x=X, where $\ensuremath{\psi}(x,t)$ and J(x,t) are both zero for all t, while no particle ever reaches X according to the theory based on Bohmian mechanics. Some possible implications are discussed.
We model ideal arrival-time measurements for free quantum particles and for particles subject to an external interaction by means of a narrow and weak absorbing potential. This approach is related to the operational approach of measuring the first photon emitted from a two-level atom illuminated by a laser. By operator normalizing the resulting time-of-arrival distribution, a distribution is obtained which for freely moving particles not only recovers the axiomatically derived distribution of Kijowski for states with purely positive momenta but is also applicable to general momentum components. For particles interacting with a square barrier the mean arrival time and corresponding ``tunneling time'' obtained at the transmission side of the barrier become independent of the barrier width (Hartman effect) for arbitrarily wide barriers, i.e., without the transition to the ultraopaque, classical-like regime dominated by wave packet components above the barrier.