Semiclassical Symmetries

Essential properties of semiclassical approximation for quantum mechanics are viewed as axioms of an abstract semiclassical mechanics. Its symmetry properties are discussed. Semiclassical systems being invariant under Lie groups are considered. An infinitesimal analog of group relation is written. Sufficient conditions for reconstructing semiclassical group transformations (integrability of representation of Lie algebra) are discussed. The obtained results may be used for mathematical proof of Poincare invariance of semiclassical Hamiltonian field theory and for investigation of quantum anomalies.     

二维可积系统的求迹公式和周期轨道的量子化

从Berry–Tabor求迹公式出发,导出了二维可积系统周期轨道作用量的半经典量子化条件.利用此量子化条件,考虑周期轨道满足的周期条件,得到了二维无关联四次振子系统周期轨道作用量的半经典量子化条件,并给出了半经典能级公式.对能级与周期轨道的对应关系做了分析.     

Accuracy of semiclassical dynamics in the presence of chaos

We review some of the issues facing semiclassical methods in classically chaotic systems, then demonstrate the long-time accuracy of semiclassical propagation of a nonstationary wave packet using the quantum baker's map of Balazs and Voros. We show why some of the standard arguments against the efficacy of semiclassical dynamics for long-time chaotic motion are incorrect.     

The semiclassical treatment of some quantum problems

The semiclassical treatment of quantummechanical problems is discussed making use of a generalization of the Hamilton-Jacobi partial differential equation to cases in which only some of the variables of the problem are treated classically. The quantum equations are put into a form in which the effects not covered by the semiclassical approximation are concentrated into one set of terms. This enables one to calculate corrections to the semiclassical theory and to demonstrate that compensations of the decrease of scattering in the coherent (“elastic”) channel by the increase caused by the presence of incoherent (“inelastic”) channels which is exact in the semiclassical approximation holds in a certain approximation quantum-mechanically. By means of these relationships it is shown that some and presumably the main contributions to the dynamical effects of molecular electrons interacting with protons in experiments on proton-proton and proton-neutron scattering are negligibly small.     

Spreading of atomic wave packets and semiclassical chaos

The correspondence between the statistical properties of the evolution of a quantum system and Lyapunov instability and the chaos of its semiclassical analog has been demonstrated. The results of the analyses of atomic motion in a laser field in the semiclassical approximation (dynamics is described by several nonlinear equations) and without this approximation (dynamics is described by an infinite system of linear equations) are compared. In the ranges of the parameters for which the semiclassical dynamics of point-like atoms is unstable, the fast “spreading” of quantized wave packets in the momentum space is observed. Thus, deterministic chaos “imitates” the statistics of the quantum nondeterministic effects, although the semiclassical and quantum solutions are fundamentally different.     

Towards Nonlinear Quantum Fokker-Planck Equations

It is demonstrated how the equilibrium semiclassical approach of Coffey et al. can be improved to describe more correctly the evolution. As a result a new semiclassical Klein-Kramers equation for the Wigner function is derived, which remains quantum for a free quantum Brownian particle as well. It is transformed to a semiclassical Smoluchowski equation, which leads to our semiclassical generalization of the classical Einstein law of Brownian motion derived before. A possibility is discussed how to extend these semiclassical equations to nonlinear quantum Fokker-Planck equations based on the Fisher information.     

Semiclassical description of reactions at energies near the Coulomb barrier

The modified semiclassical approximation of Coulomb matrix elements is extended to include effects of distorting nuclear potentials in the scattering wave functions. The applicability and efficiency of the proposed semiclassical method are discussed. The advantages of this approximation are shown for a typical heavy-ion transfer reaction.     

Quantization of sine-Gordon solitons on the circle: Semiclassical vs. exact results

We consider the semiclassical quantization of sine-Gordon solitons on the circle with periodic and anti-periodic boundary conditions. The 1-loop quantum corrections to the mass of the solitons are determined using zeta function regularization in the integral representation. We compare the semiclassical results with exact numerical calculations in the literature and find excellent agreement even outside the plain semiclassical regime.     

On semi-classical bounds for eigenvalues of Schrödinger operators

Our principal results is that if the semiclassical estimate is a bound for some moment of the negative eigenvalues (as is known in some cases in one-dimension), then the semiclassical estimates are also bounds for all higher moments.     

Semiclassical propagator and van Vleck determinant in a mixed position--momentum space

In this paper a semiclassical propagator in a mixed position--momentum space is derived in the formalism of Maslov's multi-dimensional semiclassical theory. The corresponding mixed van Vleck determinant is also given explicitly. The propagator can be used to locally fix semiclassical divergences in singular regions of configuration space. It is shown that when a semiclassical propagator is transformed from one representation to another, its form is invariant.     

Method of semiclassical representation in quantum electrodynamics

The operators of the classical amplitudes of an electromagnetic field are introduced and a method of transferring from quantum electrodynamics to the semiclassical approximation both in the case of a free field and in the case of the interaction of the field with a quantum system is given. The method considered enables one to set up solutions of quantum electrodynamics in the case of an intense field from the solutions of the semiclassical problem. An operator method of obtaining solutions of the equations of semiclassical electrodynamics is considered. The physical meaning of the quantum corrections to the semiclassical electrodynamics of an intense field is discussed.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 2, pp. 77–98, February, 1980.     

Resonance eigenfunctions in chaotic scattering systems

We study the semiclassical structure of resonance eigenstates of open chaotic systems. We obtain semiclassical estimates for the weight of these states on different regions in phase space. These results imply that the long-lived right (left) eigenstates of the non-unitary propagator are concentrated in the semiclassical limit ħ → 0 on the backward (forward) trapped set of the classical dynamics. On this support the eigenstates display a self-similar behaviour which depends on the limiting decay rate.     

Fisher information contains all HO-quantum-statistics already at the semiclassical level

We study here the difference between quantum statistical treatments and semiclassical ones, using as the main research tool a semiclassical, shift-invariant Fisher information measure built up with Husimi distributions. Its semiclassical character notwithstanding, this measure also contains abundant information of a purely quantal nature. Such a tool allows us to refine the celebrated Lieb bound for Wehrl entropies and to discover thermodynamic-like relations that involve the degree of delocalization. Fisher-related thermal uncertainty relations are developed and the degree of purity of canonical distributions, regarded as mixed states, is connected to this Fisher measure as well.     

Semiclassical States Associated with Isotropic Submanifolds of Phase Space

We define classes of quantum states associated with isotropic submanifolds of cotangent bundles. The classes are stable under the action of semiclassical pseudo-differential operators and covariant under the action of semiclassical Fourier integral operators. We develop a symbol calculus for them; the symbols are symplectic spinors. We outline various applications.     

Semiclassical theory of molecular collisions: Real and complex-valued classical trajectories for collinear atom Morse oscillator collisions

Real and complex-valued classical trajectories have been calculated for the collinear collision of an atom with a Morse oscillator. They are used in three semiclassical approximations for the transition probability: a Bessel uniform approximation, an Airy uniform approximation and a primitive semiclassical approximation. Comparison with exact quantum results shows that the Bessel uniform approximation is accurate even for near elastic collisions where the Airy and primitive approximations break down. The Airy and Bessel approximations agree quite closely for inelastic collisions however. The primitive semiclassical approximation is less accurate than either the Airy or Bessel approximation.     

Stability of Semiclassical Gravity Solutions with Respect to Quantum Metric Fluctuations

We discuss the stability of semiclassical gravity solutions with respect to small quantum corrections by considering the quantum fluctuations of the metric perturbations around the semiclassical solution. We call the attention to the role played by the symmetrized 2-point quantum correlation function for the metric perturbations, which can be naturally decomposed into two separate contributions: intrinsic and induced fluctuations. We show that traditional criteria on the stability of semiclassical gravity are incomplete because these criteria based on the linearized semiclassical Einstein equation can only provide information on the expectation value and the intrinsic fluctuations of the metric perturbations. By contrast, the framework of stochastic semiclassical gravity provides a more complete and accurate criterion because it contains information on the induced fluctuations as well. The Einstein–Langevin equation therein contains a stochastic source characterized by the noise kernel (the symmetrized 2-point quantum correlation function of the stress tensor operator) and yields stochastic correlation functions for the metric perturbations which agree, to leading order in the large N limit, with the quantum correlation functions of the theory of gravity interacting with N matter fields. These points are illustrated with the example of Minkowski space-time as a solution to the semiclassical Einstein equation, which is found to be stable under both intrinsic and induced fluctuations.     

The hamiltonian path integrals and the uniform semiclassical approximations for the propagator

The generalized path expansion scheme is defined for path integration in phase-space. Within this framework we study the semiclassical limits to the propagator, both in the momentum and the coordinate representations. It is shown that the role played by the Morse operator in the Lagrangian formulation of the path integral method is taken by another differential operator of the Dirac type. The relevant properties of this operator are discussed. The semiclassical approximations are obtained by extending the results of catastrophe theory for the asymptotic evaluation of finite-dimensional integrals to the domain of path integration. Various forms of the uniform semiclassical approximations are obtained. Their validity and applicability are discussed. The method is illustrated by a solution of a simple example in which nongeneric catastrophe occurs.