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arXiv:quant-ph/9802001

Energy Ambiguity in Nonlinear Quantum Mechanics

Waldemar Puszkarz

Published Feb 3, 1998• 7 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We observe that in nonlinear quantum mechanics, unlike in the linear theory, there exists, in general, a difference between the energy functional defined within the Lagrangian formulation as an appropriate conserved component of the canonical energy-momentum tensor and the energy functional defined as the expectation value of the corresponding nonlinear Hamiltonian operator. Some examples of such ambiguity are presented for a particularly simple model and some known modifications. However, we point out that there exist a class of nonlinear modifications of the Schrödinger equation where this difference does not occur, which makes them more consistent in a manner similar to that of the linear Schrödinger equation. It is found that necessary but not sufficient a condition for such modifications is the homogeneity of the modified Schrödinger equation or its underlying Lagrangian density which is assumed to be ``bilinear'' in the wave function in some rather general sense. Yet, it is only for a particular form of this density that the ambiguity in question does not arise. A salient feature of this form is the presence of phase functionals. The present paper thus introduces a new class of modifications characterized by this desirable and rare property.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.quant-ph/9802001

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We observe that in nonlinear quantum mechanics, unlike in the linear theory, there exists, in general, a difference between the energy functional defined within the Lagrangian formulation as an appropriate conserved component of the canonical energy-momentum tensor and the energy functional defined as the expectation value of the corresponding nonlinear Hamiltonian operator. Some examples of such ambiguity are presented for a particularly simple model and some known modifications. However, we point out that there exist a class of nonlinear modifications of the Schrödinger equation where this difference does not occur, which makes them more consistent in a manner similar to that of the linear Schrödinger equation. It is found that necessary but not sufficient a condition for such modifications is the homogeneity of the modified Schrödinger equation or its underlying Lagrangian density which is assumed to be ``bilinear'' in the wave function in some rather general sense. Yet, it is only for a particular form of this density that the ambiguity in question does not arise. A salient feature of this form is the presence of phase functionals. The present paper thus introduces a new class of modifications characterized by this desirable and rare property.
A nonlinear modification of the Schrödinger equation is proposed in which the Lagrangian density for the Schrödinger equation is extended by terms polynomial in Δmln⁡(Ψ∗/Ψ)Δ^{m}\ln (Ψ^{*}/Ψ)Δmln(Ψ∗/Ψ) multiplied by Ψ∗ΨΨ^{*}ΨΨ∗Ψ. This introduces a homogeneous nonlinearity in a Galilean invariant manner through the phase SSS rather than the amplitude RRR of the wave function Ψ=Rexp⁡(iS)Ψ=R\exp (iS)Ψ=Rexp(iS). From this general scheme we choose the simplest minimal model defined in some reasonable way. The model in question offers the simplest way to modify the Bohm formulation of quantum mechanics so as to allow a leading phase contribution to the quantum potential and a leading quantum contribution to the probability current removing asymmetries present in Bohm's original formulation. It preserves most of physically relevant properties of the Schrödinger equation including stationary states of quantum-mechanical systems. It can be thought of as the simplest model of nonlinear quantum mechanics of extended objects among other such models that also emerge within the general scheme proposed. The extensions of this model to nnn particles and the question of separability of compound systems are studied. It is noted that there exists a weakly separable extension in addition to a strongly separable one. The place of the general modification scheme in a broader spectrum of nonlinear modifications of the Schrödinger equation is discussed. It is pointed out that the models it gives rise to have a unique definition of energy in that the field-theoretical energy functional coincides with the quantum-mechanical one. It is found that the Lagrangian for its simplest variant represents the Lagrangian for a restricted version of the Doebner-Goldin modification of this equation.
Phase and amplitude of the complex wave function are not independent of each other, but coupled, which becomes obvious looking at Madelung's hydrodynamic formulation of quantum mechanics. In the time-independent case, this leads to a kind of conservation law that allows for the reformulation of the linear Schrodinger equation in terms of a nonlinear Ermakov equation which is equivalent to a complex Riccati equation where the quadratic term in this equation explains the origin of the phase-amplitude coupling. A similar conservation law and corresponding nonlinear equations can also be found in the time-dependent case. The gain from the nonlinear formulations emerges when open systems with dissipation and irreversibility are considered. Describing this kind of systems by an effective nonlinear Schrodinger equation leads to a modification of the above-mentioned equations with new qualitative effects like Hopf bifurcations.
We present some physically interesting, in general non-stationary, one-dimensional solutions to the nonlinear phase modification of the Schrödinger equation proposed recently. The solutions include a coherent state, a phase-modified Gaussian wave packet in the potential of harmonic oscillator whose strength varies in time, a free Gaussian soliton, and a similar soliton in the potential of harmonic oscillator comoving with the soliton. The last of these solutions implies that there exist an energy level in the spectrum of harmonic oscillator which is not predicted by the linear theory. The free solitonic solution can be considered a model for a particle aspect of the wave-particle duality embodied in the quantum theory. The physical size of this particle is naturally rendered equal to its Compton wavelength in the subrelativistic framework in which the self-energy of the soliton is assumed to be equal to its rest-mass energy. The solitonic solutions exist only for the negative coupling constant for which the Gaussian wave packets must be larger than some critical finite size if their energy is to be bounded, i.e., they cannot be point-like objects.
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It is known since Madelung that the Schrödinger equation can be thought of as governing the evolution of an incompressible fluid, but the current theory fails to mathematically express this incompressibility in terms of the wavefunction without facing problem. In this paper after showing that the current definition of quantum-mechanical momentum as a linear operator is neither the most general nor a necessary result of the de Broglie hypothesis, a new definition is proposed that can yield both a meaningful mathematical condition for the incompressibility of the Madelung fluid, and nonlinear generalisations of Schrödinger and Klein-Gordon equations. The derived equations satisfy all conditions that are expected from a proper generalisation: simplification to their linear counterparts by a well-defined dynamical condition; Galilean and Lorentz invariance (respectively); and signifying only rays in the Hilbert space.
We discuss Staruszkiewicz's nonlinear modification of the Schrödinger equation. It is pointed out that the expression for the energy functional for this modification is not unique as the field-theoretical definition of energy does not coincide with the quantum-mechanical one. As a result, this modification can be formulated in three different ways depending on which physically relevant properties one aims to preserve. Some nonstationary one-dimensional solutions for suitably chosen potentials, including a KdV soliton, are presented, and the question of finding stationary solutions is also discussed. The analysis of physical and mathematical features of the modification leads to the conclusion that the Staruszkiewicz modification is a very subtle modification of the fundamental equation of quantum mechanics.