Quantum Hamilton Jacobi Theory

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Introduction
Classical Canonical Transformations

Classical canonical transformations are useful for nding a suitable set of dynamical variables for a particular problem. qQ pP H (q , p , t ) K (Q , P , t )

Canonical transformations are induced by a generating function, F. F can be a function of any two independent variables e.g. (q,Q), (q,P), (Q,p) and (p,P), corresponding to the dierent types of generating function.

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Introduction
Type-I Generating Functions

F1 (q , Q , t ) qi Pi = F1 (q , Q , t ) Qi K (Q , P , t ) = H (q , p , t ) + F1 (q , Q , t ) t pi =

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Introduction
Hamilton-Jacobi Equation

If we manage to nd a canonical transformation which gives us K(Q,P,t)=0, then we get the Hamilton-Jacobi equation 0 = H (q , F1 , t ) + F1 (q , Q , t ) q t

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Quantum Canonical Transformations

There also exist Quantum Canonical Transformations, which are similar to their classical counterparts q Q p P ,P , t) H ( q, p , t ) K (Q

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Quantum Canonical Transformations

Type-I QCT

For a type-I quantum canonical transformation we would have , t) F1 ( q, Q q i i = F1 ( , t) P q, Q i Q , t) ,P , t ) = H ( K (Q q, p , t ) + F1 ( q, Q t p i =

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Quantum Canonical Transformations

Well-ordering

However the quantum generating function may contain noncommuting operators, so we must enforce well-ordering: operators with upper-case letters should always be to the right of operators with lower-case letters, or , t) = F1 ( q, Q

, t) f ( q , t )g (Q

, t ) as W ( , t ). From here we shall refer to F1 ( q, Q q, Q

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Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation

If a QCT gives us a Kamiltonian operator which is zero, then we have the quantum Hamilton-Jacobi equation below : , t ), t + W ( , t) = 0 W ( q, Q q, Q q t

H q ,

This equation gives us an independent formulation of quantum mechanics. However it is dicult to solve this nonlinear operator partial dierential equation.

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Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation

Marco Roncadelli, L.S. Schulman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 170406 (2007)

Roncadelli and Schulman proved that we can nd solutions to the operator Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation by a simple prescription from the solutions of the Schrdinger equation for the same Hamiltonian. To prove this, we use a fairly general Weyl-ordered Hamiltonian : 1 1 q )p i p j + p i aij ( q )p j + p i p j aij ( q )+ bi ( q )p i + p i bi ( q )+ c ( q) H ( q, p , t ) = aij ( 2 2 where aij (), bi (), and c () are functions of q k.

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Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation

Marco Roncadelli, L.S. Schulman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 170406 (2007)

Using p i =

W q i

, the Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation is :

W W 1 W W W 1 W aij ( q) + aij ( q) + aij ( q) 2 q i q j q i q j 2 q i q j W W W +bi ( q) + bi ( q ) + c ( q) + =0 q i q i t

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Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation

Marco Roncadelli, L.S. Schulman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 170406 (2007)

We sandwich this equation between the eigenstates q | and |Q , and after a long derivation, we arrive at the c-number Quantum Hamilton Jacobi equation 2aij (q ) 2 W (q , Q , t ) W (q , Q , t ) W (q , Q , t ) i + qi qj qi qj aij (q ) qj W (q , Q , t ) bi (q ) + c (q ) i qi qi 2 aij (q ) W (q , Q , t ) + =0 2 qi qj t
2

2 bi (q ) i

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Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation

Marco Roncadelli, L.S. Schulman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 170406 (2007)

But if we set i (q , Q , t ) exp{ W (q , Q , t )} in the Schrdinger equation, we nd the exact same c-number Quantum Hamilton Jacobi equation!

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Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation

Marco Roncadelli, L.S. Schulman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 170406 (2007)

Thus the wavefunction (q , Q , t ) gives us the solution, W (q , Q , t ), to the c-number Quantum Hamilton Jacobi equation. From this solution we can , t ) to the Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi directly nd the solution, W ( q, Q equation by replacing variables by operators, since well-ordering eliminates any possibility of ambiguity.

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Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation

Marco Roncadelli, L.S. Schulman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 170406 (2007)

We can show that the wavefunction (q , Q , t ) is just the quantum propagator K (q , Q , t ). Since both functions obey the same equation, all we need to show is that they have the same boundary conditions at t = 0. For the propagator K (q , Q , t ) = (q Q ) at t = 0. . Then we must focus on (q , Q , t ) or W

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Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation

Marco Roncadelli, L.S. Schulman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 170406 (2007)

We assume that for a nonsingular potential, the solution W approaches m 2 that of the free particle for t 0. Thus, W (q , Q ) = 2 t (Q q ) . To conserve a well-ordered operator, we must have : 2 2q +q = m (Q Q 2 ) + g (t ) W 2t With the Quantum Hamilton Jacobi Equation, we have : W m 2 g m 2 +q Q q = 2 (Q 2q Q 2 ) + = 2 (Q q Q +q 2 ) t 2t t 2t 0= m ] + g (t ) [ q, Q 2 2t t

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Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation

Marco Roncadelli, L.S. Schulman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 170406 (2007)

For small t , we can compute the commutator thanks the the relation : + q =Q Thus, we nd : g (t ) 1 i = (Q P P Q) = t 2t 2t i = m (Q 2 2q +q W Q 2 ) + ln(t ) + const 2t 2 (q , Q , t ) = const 1 exp t i m 2 (Q 2qQ + q 2 ) 2t Pt m

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Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation

Marco Roncadelli, L.S. Schulman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 170406 (2007)

Since we can nd any solution of the Schdinger equation by convolving an arbitrary wave function with the propagator, it follows that any solution of the operator QHJE can ultimately be constructed in terms of the propagator.
i

(q ) = e

W (q )

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Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation : Example

Simple Harmonic Oscillator

H=

p 2 1 + m 2 q 2 2m 2 1 4

aij = ij

bi = 0 1 c = m 2 q 2 2 The Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation is : 1 2m W q

2

1 W + m 2 q 2 + =0 2 t

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Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation : Example

Simple Harmonic Oscillator

Converting to c-number form : 1 2m W q

2

i 2W W 1 =0 + m 2 q 2 + 2 2m q 2 t

We have the propagator : K (Q , q , t ) = im ((Q 2 + q 2 ) cos( t ) 2qQ ) m exp 2 i sin( t ) 2 sin( t )

which is a known solution in Quantum Mechanics

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Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation : Example

Simple Harmonic Oscillator

Since K (q , Q , t ) = exp W (q , Q , t ) =

W (q , Q , t ) , we can easily nd the solution :

m ((q 2 + Q 2 ) cos( t ) 2qQ ) i sin( t ) + ln 2 sin( t ) 2

The quantum solution is then : 2 ) cos( t ) 2q ) i sin( t ) q2 + Q Q , t ) = m (( + ln W ( q, Q 2 sin( t ) 2

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Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation : Example

Simple Harmonic Oscillator

We can nd the time-dependence of the operators : W m q cos( t ) Qm = q sin( t ) m = W = m Q cos( t ) + q P sin( t ) Q p =

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Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation : Example

Simple Harmonic Oscillator

Which then give us the solution to the Quantum harmonic oscillator : P cos( t ) sin( t ) + Q m cos( t ) + m Q sin( t ) p (t ) = P q (t ) =

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c-number quantum action-angle variables

R.A. Leacock and M.Padgett, Phys. Rev. Lett. 50, 3 (1983)

The c-number quantum Hamilton-Jacobi equation can also be used to dene c-number quantum action-angle variables. It is possible to show that the eigenvalues of the action operator are I = n just like in Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization. The extra ground state energy required in problems such as the simple harmonic oscillator comes from the quantum correction terms in the c-number Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation.

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Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi Equation

Conclusion

We can construct solutions to the operator QHJE using the quantum propagator K(q,Q,t) for the same Hamiltonian. Once K(q,Q,t) is known, we may get its complex phase W(q,Q,t) and by demanding well-ordering, we produce the operator solution ,q W (Q , t ). Conversely, we can also solve the classical partial dierential equation for W(q,Q,t) to nd the propagator K(q,Q,t).

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