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arXiv:quant-ph/9805005 · Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics

Wave function of a Brownian particle

R. M. Cavalcanti

Published Nov 1, 1998• 8 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Using the Hamiltonian of Caldirola [Nuovo Cimento 18, 393 (1941)] and Kanai [Prog. Theor. Phys. 3, 440 (1948)], we study the time evolution of the wave function of a particle whose classical motion is governed by the Langevin equation $m\mathrm{x\ifmmode\ddot\else\textasciidieresis\fi{}}+\ensuremath{\eta}\mathrm{x\ifmmode \dot{}\else \.{}\fi{}}=F(t).$ We show in particular that if the initial wave function is Gaussian, then (i) it remains Gaussian for all times, (ii) its width grows, approaching a finite value when $\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{t}\ensuremath{\infty},$ and (iii) its center describes a Brownian motion and so the uncertainty in the position of the particle grows without limit.

DOI
10.1103/physreve.58.6807

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The Brownian motion of a particle coupled to a heat bath can be derived from an exactly solvable many-body system. This motion is governed by the Langevin equation in Newtonian mechanics, and by an operator equation formally identical to the Langevin equation when the system composed of the particle plus the heat bath is quantized. To get this formal similarity between the classical and the quantal equations of motion of the particle, the classical dissipative system is formulated in terms of a modified Hamilton–Jacobi equation and is then quantized using the Schrödinger method. The result is identical with the Schrödinger–Langevin equation that has been obtained by quantizing the entire system and then isolating the motion of the particle. The non-linear wave equation describing the motion of a particle subject to conservative and time-dependent forces as well as frictional forces has been applied to the problems of motion of a wave-packet, and of the scattering and trapping of heavy-ions.
We first point out that nonrelativistic quantum mechanics formulated at imaginary time s = it can formally be recognized as the Fokker-Planck description of a classical Brownian motion, which occurs (in general) in a medium where particles are absorbed and emitted. We next offer a new formulation of quantum dynamics, which is basically the Langevin treatment of that Brownian motion. More explicitly, we derive a noise average representation of the transition probability W ( X", s"|X', s' ) in terms of the solutions to a Langevin equation with a Gaussian white noise. Upon analytic continuation back to real time W ( X", s"|X', s' ) becomes the propagator of the original Schrödinger equation, namely we have ⟨ X", t"|X', t' ⟩ = W ( X", it"|X', it' ). The main advantage of this approach is to permit a systematic application to quantum-dynamical problems of the mathematical techniques developed in the theory of classical stochastic processes, even when vector potentials and/or time-dependent potentials are present.
In the frames of classical mechanics the generalized Langevin equation is derived for an arbitrary mechanical subsystem coupled to the harmonic bath of a solid. A time-acting temperature operator is introduced for the quantum Klein-Kramers and Smoluchowski equations, accounting for the effect of the quantum thermal bath oscillators. The model of Brownian emitters is theoretically studied and the relevant evolutionary equations for the probability density are derived. The Schrodinger equation is explained via collisions of the target point particles with the quantum force carriers, transmitting the fundamental interactions between the point particles. Thus, electrons and other point particles are no waves and the wavy chapter of quantum mechanics originated for the force carriers. A stochastic Lorentz-Langevin equation is proposed to describe the underlaying Brownian-like motion of the point particles in quantum mechanics. Considering the Brownian dynamics in the frames of the Bohmian mechanics, the density functional Bohm-Langevin equation is proposed, and the relevant Smoluchowski-Bohm equation is derived. A nonlinear master equation is proposed by proper quantization of the classical Klein-Kramers equation. Its equilibrium solution in the exact canonical Gibbs density operator, while the well-known Caldeira-Leggett equation is simply a linearization at high temperature. In the case of a free quantum Brownian particles, a new law for the spreading of the wave packet it discovered, which represents the quantum generalization of the classical Einstein law of Brownian motion. A new projector operator is proposed for the collapse of the wave function of a quantum particle moving in a classical environment. Its application results in dissipative Schrodinger equations, as well as in a new form of dissipative Liouville equation in classical mechanics.
For the Langevin model of the dynamics of a Brownian particle with perturbations orthogonal to its current velocity, in a regime when the particle velocity modulus becomes constant, an equation for the characteristic function ψ(t,λ)=M[exp⁡(λ,x(t))/V=v(0)]ψ(t,λ)=M\left[\exp (λ,x(t))/V={\rm v}(0)\right]ψ(t,λ)=M[exp(λ,x(t))/V=v(0)] of the position x(t)x(t)x(t) of the Brownian particle. The obtained results confirm the conclusion that the model of the dynamics of a Brownian particle, which constructed on the basis of an unconventional physical interpretation of the Langevin equations, i. e. stochastic equations with orthogonal influences, leads to the interpretation of an ensemble of Brownian particles as a system with wave properties. These results are consistent with the previously obtained conclusions that, with a certain agreement of the coefficients in the original stochastic equation, for small random influences and friction, the Langevin equations lead to a description of the probability density of the position of a particle based on wave equations. For large random influences and friction, the probability density is a solution to the diffusion equation, with a diffusion coefficient that is lower than in the classical diffusion model.