Issue |
EPL
Volume 102, Number 6, June 2013
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 60005 | |
Number of page(s) | 6 | |
Section | General | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/102/60005 | |
Published online | 10 July 2013 |
Quantum flux and reverse engineering of quantum wave functions
1 Department of Physics, Harvard University - Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
2 Department of Physics, Oklahoma State University - Stillwater, OK 74078, USA
3 Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University - Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Received: 30 January 2013
Accepted: 7 June 2013
An interpretation of the probability flux is given, based on a derivation of its eigenstates and relating them to coherent-state projections on a quantum wave function. An extended definition of the flux operator is obtained using coherent states. We present a “processed Husimi” representation, which makes decisions using many Husimi projections at each location. The processed Husimi representation reverse engineers or deconstructs the wave function, yielding the underlying classical ray structure. Our approach makes possible interpreting the dynamics of systems where the probability flux is uniformly zero or strongly misleading. The new technique is demonstrated by the calculation of particle flow maps of the classical dynamics underlying a quantum wave function in simple model systems such as a circular billiard with and without a magnetic field.
PACS: 03.65.Sq – Semiclassical theories and applications / 03.65.Ta – Foundations of quantum mechanics; measurement theory / 07.05.Rm – Data presentation and visualization: algorithms and implementation
© EPLA, 2013
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