By using the overcompleteness of coherent states we find an alternative form of the unit operator for which the ket and the bra appearing under the integration sign do not refer to the same phase-space point. This defines a new quantum representation in terms of Bargmann functions, whose basic features are presented. A continuous family of secondary reproducing kernels for the Bargmann functions is obtained, showing that this quantity is not necessarily unique for representations based on overcomplete sets. We illustrate the applicability of the presented results by deriving a semiclassical expression for the Feynman propagator that generalizes the well-known van Vleck formula and seems to point a way to cope with long-standing problems in semiclassical propagation of localized states.
High approximations of semiclassical trajectory-coherent states (TCS) and of semiclassical Green function (in the class of semiclassically concentrated states) for the Dirac operator with anomalous Pauli interaction are obtained. For Schrodinger and Dirac operators trajectory-coherent representations are constructed up to any precision with respect to h, h-->0.
We discuss some basic tools for an analysis of one-dimensionalquantum systems defined on a cyclic coordinate space. The basic features of the generalized coherent states, the complexifier coherent states are reviewed. These states are then used to define the corresponding (quasi)densities in phase space. The properties of these generalized Husimi distributions are discussed, in particular their zeros.Furthermore, the use of the complexifier coherent states for a semiclassical analysis is demonstrated by deriving a semiclassical coherent state propagator in phase space.
We construct semiclassical solutions of the symplectically covariant Schroedinger phase-space equation rigorously studied in a previous paper; we use for this purpose an adaptation of Littlejohn's nearby-orbit method. We take the opportunity to discuss in some detail the so fruitful notion of squeezed coherent state and the action of the metaplectic group on these states.
The semiclassical propagation of spin coherent states is considered in complex phase space. For two time-independent systems we find the appropriate classical trajectories and show that their combined contributions are able to describe quantum interference with great accuracy. Not only the modulus but also the phase of the quantum propagator, both dynamical and geometric terms combined, are accurately reproduced.
We present a complete derivation of the semiclassical limit of the coherent state propagator in one dimension, starting from path integrals in phase space. We show that the arbitrariness in the path integral representation, which follows from the overcompleteness of the coherent states, results in many different semiclassical limits. We explicitly derive two possible semiclassical formulae for the propagator, we suggest a third one, and we discuss their relationships. We also derive an initial value representation for the semiclassical propagator, based on an initial gaussian wavepacket. It tu…
A semiclassical formula for the coherent-state propagator requires the determination of specific classical paths inhabiting a complex phase-space through a Hamiltonian flux. Such trajectories are constrained to special boundary conditions which render their determination difficult by common methods. In this paper we present a new method based on Runge-Kutta integrator for a quick, easy and accurate determination of these trajectories. Using nonlinear one dimensional systems we show that the semiclassical formula is highly accurate as compared to its exact counterpart . Further we clarify how t…
The semiclassical approximation to the coherent state propagator requires complex classical trajectories in order to satisfy the associated boundary conditions, but finding these trajectories in practice is a difficult task that may compromise the applicability of the approximation. In this work several approximations to the coherent state propagator are derived that make use only of real trajectories, which are easier to handle and have a more direct physical interpretation. It is verified in a particular example that these real trajectories approximations may have excellent accuracy.
A uniform approximation for the coherent state propagator, valid in the vicinity of phase space caustics, was recently obtained using the Maslov method combined with a dual representation for coherent states. In this paper we review the derivation of this formula and apply it to two model systems: the one-dimensional quartic oscillator and a two-dimensional chaotic system.
The semiclassical formula for the quantum propagator in the coherent state representation $<\mathbf{z}'' | e^{-i\hat{H}T/\hbar} | \mathbf{z}'>$ is not free from the problem of caustics. These are singular points along the complex classical trajectories specified by $\mathbf{z}'$, $\mathbf{z}''$ and $T$ where the usual quadratic approximation fails, leading to divergences in the semiclassical formula. In this paper we derive third order approximations for this propagator that remain finite in the vicinity of caustics. We use Maslov's method and the dual representation proposed in Phys. Rev. Let…
The method of integrals of motion is used to construct families of generalized coherent states of a nonrelativistic spinless charged particle in a constant electric field. Families of states, differing in the values of their standard deviations at the initial time, are obtained. Depending on the initial values of the standard deviations, and also on the electric field, it turns out to be possible to identify some families with semiclassical states.
The overcompleteness of the coherent states basis leads to a multiplicity of representations of Feynman's path integral. These different representations, although equivalent quantum mechanically, lead to different semiclassical limits. Two such semiclassical formulas were derived in \cite{Bar01} for the two corresponding path integral forms suggested by Klauder and Skagerstan in \cite{Klau85}. Each of these formulas involve trajectories governed by a different classical representation of the Hamiltonian operator: the P representation in one case and the Q representation in other. In this paper…
We derive the semiclassical limit of the coherent state propagator for systems with two degrees of freedom of which one degree of freedom is canonical and the other a spin. Systems in this category include those involving spin-orbit interactions and the Jaynes-Cummings model in which a single electromagnetic mode interacts with many independent two-level atoms. We construct a path integral representation for the propagator of such systems and derive its semiclassical limit. As special cases we consider separable systems, the limit of very large spins and the case of spin 1/2.
We study the semiclassical propagation of coherent states in $d$ dimensions, which in general involves complex classical dynamics. Several simple approximations are derived that depend only on real classical trajectories, among them the thawed Gaussian approximation (TGA). Apart from the TGA, all other possibilities are able to reproduce interference and tunnelling effects, and involve propagating a set of classical initial conditions compatible with the quantum uncertainties. The accuracy of the results is verified in two dimensions for the scattering by an attractive potential, for a bound n…
In the present article we extend our study (BJP 45 (2015) 369) of generalized coherent states (GCS) of a one-dimensional particle considering such important physical system as a 3-dimensional charged particle in electric and magnetic fields. Constructing GCS in many-dimensional case, we meet nontrivial technical complications that make the consideration nontrivial and instructive. The GCS of a system under consideration are constructed. We study properties of these GCS such as completeness relations, minimization of uncertainty relations and so on. We point out which family of the obtained GCS…
Coherent states (CS) were first introduced and studied in detail for bound motion and discrete-spectrum systems like harmonic oscillators and similar systems with a quadratic Hamiltonian. However, the problem of constructing CS has still not been investigated in detail for the simplest and physically important case of a free particle, for which, besides being physically important, the CS problem is of didactic value in teaching quantum mechanics, with the CS regarded as examples of wave packets representing semiclassical motion. In this paper, we essentially follow the Malkin-Dodonov-Man'ko me…
We derive a product rule for gauge invariant Weyl symbols which provides a generalization of the well-known Moyal formula to the case of non-vanishing electromagnetic fields. Applying our result to the guiding center problem we expand the guiding center Hamiltonian into an asymptotic power series with respect to both Planck's constant $\hbar$ and an adiabaticity parameter already present in the classical theory. This expansion is used to determine the influence of quantum mechanical effects on guiding center motion.
We consider the problem of phase-covariant cloning for coherent states. We show that an experimental scheme based on ideal phase measurement and feedforward outperforms the semiclassical procedure of ideal phase measurement and preparation in terms of fidelity. A realistic scheme where the ideal phase measurement is replaced with double-homodyne detection is shown to be unable to overcome the semiclassical cloning strategy. On the other hand, such a realistic scheme is better than semiclassical cloning based on double-homodyne phase measurement and preparation.
The motion of neutral particles with magnetic moments in an inhomogeneous magnetic field is described in a semi-classical framework. The concept of Coherent Internal States is used in the formulation of the semiclassical approximation from the full quantum mechanical expression. The classical trajectories are defined only for certain spin state, that satusfy the conditions for being Coherent Internal State. The raalibility of Stern-Gerlach experiments to measure spin projectons is assessed in this framework.
We propose a conjugate application of the Bargmann representation of quantum mechanics. Applying the Maslov method to the semiclassical connection formula between the two representations, we derive a uniform semiclassical approximation for the coherent state propagator which is finite at phase space caustics.
The dynamical generation of entanglement in closed bipartite systems is investigated in the semiclassical regime. We consider a model of two particles, initially prepared in a product of coherent states, evolving in time according to a generic Hamiltonian, and derive a formula for the linear entropy of the reduced density matrix using the semiclassical propagator in the coherent-state representation. The formula is explicitly written in terms of quantities that define the stability of classical trajectories of the underlying classical system. The formalism is then applied to the problem of two…
We use a continuous-time path integral to obtain the semiclassical propagator for minimal-spread spin coherent states. We pay particular attention to the ``extra phase'' discovered by Solari and Kochetov, and show that this correction is related to an anomaly in the fluctuation determinant. We show that, once this extra factor is included, the semiclassical propagator has the correct short time behaviour to $O(T^2)$, and demonstrate its consistency under dissection of the path
We present a detailed derivation of the semiclassical propagator in the SU(n) coherent state representation. In order to provide support for immediate physical applications, we restrict this work to the fully symmetric irreducible representations, which are suitable for the treatment of bosonic dynamics in n modes, considering systems with conservation of total particle number. The derivation described here can be easily extended to other classes of coherent states, thus representing an alternative approach to previously published methods.
A detailed derivation of the semiclassical propagator in the generalized coherent-state representation is performed by applying the saddle-point method to a path integral over the classical phase space. With the purpose of providing greater accessibility and applicability to the developed formalism, a brief review of the generalized concept of coherent states is presented, in which three examples of coherent-state sets are examined, namely, the canonical, spin, and SU(n) bosonic coherent states.
We extend former results for coherent states on the circle in the literature in two ways. On the one hand, we show that expectation values of fractional powers of momentum operators can be computed exactly analytically by means of Kummer's confluent hypergeometric functions. Earlier, these expectation values have only been obtained by using suitable estimates. On the other hand, we consider the Zak transformation not only to map harmonic oscillator coherent states to coherent states on the circle as it has been discussed before, but we also use the properties of the Zak transformation to deriv…
We use spin-coherent states as a time-dependent variational ansatz for a semiclassical description of a large family of Heisenberg models. In addition to common approaches we also evaluate the square variance of the Hamiltonian in terms of coherent states. This quantity turns out to have a natural interpretation with respect to time-dependent solutions of the equations of motion and allows for an estimate of quantum fluctuations in a semiclassical regime. The general results are applied to solitons, instantons and vortices in several one- and two-dimensional models.
We study semiclassical approximations to the time evolution of coherent states for general spin-orbit coupling problems in two different semiclassical scenarios: The limit \hbar to zero is first taken with fixed spin quantum number s and then with \hbar*s held constant. In these two cases different classical spin-orbit dynamics emerge. We prove that a coherent state propagated with a suitable classical dynamics approximates the quantum time evolution up to an error of size \sqrt{\hbar} and identify an Ehrenfest time scale. Subsequently an improvement of the semiclassical error to an arbitray o…
We use coherent states as a time-dependent variational ansatz for a semiclassical treatment of the dynamics of anharmonic quantum oscillators. In this approach the square variance of the Hamiltonian within coherent states is of particular interest. This quantity turns out to have natural interpretation with respect to time-dependent solutions of the semiclassical equations of motion. Moreover, our approach allows for an estimate of the decoherence time of a classical object due to quantum fluctuations. We illustrate our findings at the example of the Toda chain.
A new approach to constructing coherent states (CS) and semiclassical states (SS) in magnetic-solenoid field is proposed. The main idea is based on the fact that the AB solenoid breaks the translational symmetry in the xy-plane, this has a topological effect such that there appear two types of trajectories which embrace and do not embrace the solenoid. Due to this fact, one has to construct two different kinds of CS/SS, which correspond to such trajectories in the semiclassical limit. Following this idea, we construct CS in two steps, first the instantaneous CS (ICS) and the time dependent CS/…
It is shown that the semiclassical coherent state propagator takes its simplest form when the quantum mechanical Hamiltonian is replaced by its Weyl symbol in defining the classical action, in that there is then no need of a Solari-Kochetov correction. It is also shown that such a correction exists if a symbol other than the Weyl symbol is chosen, and that its form is different depending on the symbol chosen. The various forms of the propagator based on different symbols are shown to be equivalent provided the correspondingly correct Solari-Kochetov correction is included. All these results ar…
In this work, we derived a semiclassical approximation for the matrix elements of a quantum propagator in coherent states (CS) basis that avoids complex trajectories, it only involves real ones. For that propose, we used the, symplectically invariant, semiclassical Weyl propagator obtained by performing a stationary phase approximation (SPA) for the path integral in the Weyl representation. After what, for the transformation to CS representation SPA is avoided, instead a quadratic expansion of the complex exponent is used. This procedure also allows to express the semiclassical CS propagator u…
We construct a representation of the coherent state path integral using the Weyl symbol of the Hamiltonian operator. This representation is very different from the usual path integral forms suggested by Klauder and Skagerstan in \cite{Klau85}, which involve the normal or the antinormal ordering of the Hamiltonian. These different representations, although equivalent quantum mechanically, lead to different semiclassical limits. We show that the semiclassical limit of the coherent state propagator in Weyl representation is involves classical trajectories that are independent on the coherent stat…
We find a uniform semiclassical (SC) wave function describing coherent branched flow through a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), a phenomenon recently discovered by direct imaging of the current using scanned probed microscopy. The formation of branches has been explained by classical arguments, but the SC simulations necessary to account for the coherence are made difficult by the proliferation of catastrophes in the phase space. In this paper, expansion in terms of "replacement manifolds" is used to find a uniform SC wave function for a cusp singularity. The method is then generalized and…
We study the canonical and the coherent state quantization of a particle moving in a magnetic field on a non-commutative plane. Starting from the so called θ-modified action, we perform the canonical quantization and analyze the gauge dependence of the obtained quantum theory. We construct the Malkin-Man'ko coherent states of the system in question, and the corresponding quantization. On this base, we study the relation between the coherent states and the "classical" trajectories predicted by the θ-modified action. In addition, we construct different semiclassical states, making use of special…
Semiclassical methods are extremely important in the subjects of wave packet and coherent state dynamics. Unfortunately, these essentially saddle point approximations are considered nearly impossible to carry out in detail for systems with multiple degrees of freedom due to the difficulties of solving the resulting two-point boundary value problems. However, recent developments have extended the applicability to a broader range of systems and circumstances. The most important advances are first to generate a set of real reference trajectories using appropriately reduced dimensional spaces of i…
We review Wehrl's definition of a semiclassical entropy in terms of coherent states and give an introductory overview of Lieb's conjecture, its proof (including earlier results), generalizations, and the role of covariant quantum channels in this context. These structures motivate an alternative definition of coherent states and have interesting physical applications and implications.
The semiclassical formula for the coherent-state propagator is written in terms of complex classical trajectories of an equivalent classical system. Depending on the parameters involved, more than one trajectory may contribute to the calculation. Eventually, however, two contributing trajectories coalesce, characterizing what is called phase space caustic. In this case, the usual semiclassical formula for the propagator diverges, so that a uniform approximation is required to avoid this singularity. In this paper, we present a non-trivial application illustrating this scenario, and showing the…
Building on a model recently proposed by F. Calogero, we postulate the existence of a coherent, long--range universal tremor affecting any stable and confined classical dynamical system. Deriving the characteristic fluctuative unit of action for each classical interaction, we obtain in all cases its numerical coincidence with the Planck action constant. We therefore suggest that quantum corrections to classical dynamics can be simulated by suitable classical stochastic fluctuations.
We show that a theory of complex scattering between many-body (Fock) states can be constructed such that its classical limit is a canonical transformation thus encoding quantum interference in the semiclassical form of the associated unitary operator. Based on this idea, we study the different coherent effects expected under different choices of the many-body states and provide different representations of the associated transition probabilities. In this way, we derive exact relations and representations of the scattering process that can be used to attack timely problems related with Boson Sa…
The semiclassical propagator in the representation of SU(n) coherent states is characterized by isolated classical trajectories subjected to boundary conditions in a doubled phase space. In this paper we recast this expression in terms of an integral over a set of initial-valued trajectories. These trajectories are monitored by a filter that collects only the appropriate contributions to the semiclassical approximation. This framework is suitable for the study of bosonic dynamics in n modes with fixed total number of particles. We exemplify the method for a Bose-Einstein condensate trapped in …
We present a semiclassical trace formula for the canonical partition function of arbitrary one-dimensional systems. The approximation is obtained via the stationary exponent method applied to the phase-space integration of the density operator in the coherent state representation. The formalism is valid in the low temperature limit, presenting accurate results in this regime. As illustrations we consider a quartic Hamiltonian that cannot be split into kinetic and potential parts, and a system with two local minima. Applications to spin systems are also presented.
A simple real-space model for the free-electron wavefunction with spin is proposed, based on coherent vortices on the scale of h/mc, rotating at mc^2/h. This reproduces the proper values for electron spin and magnetic moment. Transformation to a moving reference frame turns this into a wave with the de Broglie wavelength. The mapping of the real two-dimensional vector phasor to the complex plane satisfies the Schrodinger equation. This suggests a fundamental role for spin in quantum mechanics.
We present a semiclassical approach to many-body quantum propagation in terms of coherent sums over quantum amplitudes associated with the solutions of corresponding classical nonlinear wave equations. This approach adequately describes interference effects in the many-body space of interacting bosonic systems. The main quantity of interest, the transition amplitude between Fock states when the dynamics is driven by both single-particlecontributions and many-body interactions of similar magnitude, is non-perturbatively constructed in the spirit of Gutzwiller's derivation of the van Vleck propa…
A semiclassical simulation approach is presented for studying quantum noise in large-scale photonic circuits incorporating an ideal Kerr nonlinearity. A circuit solver is used to generate matrices defining a set of stochastic differential equations, in which the resonator field variables represent random samplings of the Wigner quasi-probability distributions. Although the semiclassical approach involves making a large-photon-number approximation, tests on one- and two-resonator circuits indicate satisfactory agreement between the semiclassical and full-quantum simulation results in the parame…
Inspired by special and general relativistic systems that can have Hamiltonians involving square roots, or more general fractional powers, in this article we address the question how a suitable set of coherent states for such systems can be obtained. This becomes a relevant topic if the semiclassical sector of a given quantum theory wants to be analysed. As a simple setup we consider the toy model of a deparametrised system with one constraint that involves a fractional power of the harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian operator and we discuss two approaches for finding suitable coherent states for …
We consider the standard double well setup extended with a laser beam in the center to create a "triple well" potential. The beam in the center is much more narrow than the barrier, and it creates a tunable depth well which can support a localized state in the middle. We show that the presence of the localized state in the central well changes the sign of tunneling between the left and right wells and therefore controls the fixed point dynamics of the bosonic Josephson junction.
We present an Initial Value Representation for the semiclassical coherent state propagator based on complex trajectories. We map the complex phase space into a real phase space with twice as many dimensions and use a simple procedure to automatically eliminate non-contributing trajectories. The resulting semiclassical formulas do not show divergences due to caustics and provide accurate results.
The semiclassical approximation of coherent state path integrals is employed to study the dynamics of the Jaynes-Cummings model. Decomposing the Hilbert space into subspaces of given excitation quanta above the ground state, the semiclassical propagator is shown to describe the exact quantum dynamics of the model. We also present a semiclassical approximation that does not exploit the special properties of the Jaynes-Cummings Hamiltonian and can be extended to more general situations. In this approach the contribution of the dominant semiclassical paths and the relevant fluctuations about them…
We study the dispersion of the "temporally stable" coherent states for the hydrogen atom introduced by Klauder. These are states which under temporal evolution by the hydrogen atom Hamiltonian retain their coherence properties. We show that in the hydrogen atom such wave packets do not move quasi-classically; i.e., they do not follow with no or little dispersion the Keplerian orbits of the classical electron. The poor quantum-classical correspondence does not improve in the semiclassical limit.
An initial coherent state is propagated exactly by a kicked quantum Hamiltonian and its associated classical stroboscopic map. The classical trajectories within the initial state are regular for low kicking strengths, then bifurcate and become mainly chaotic as the kicking parameter is increased. Time-evolution is tracked using classical, quantum and semiclassical Wigner functions, obtained via the Herman-Kluk propagator. Quantitative comparisons are also included and carried out from probability marginals and autocorrelation functions. Sub-Planckian classical structure such as small stability…
The spin coherent state path integral describing the dynamics of a spin-1/2-system in a magnetic field of arbitrary time-dependence is considered. Defining the path integral as the limit of a Wiener regularized expression, the semiclassical approximation leads to a continuous minimal action path with jumps at the endpoints. The resulting semiclassical propagator is shown to coincide with the exact quantum mechanical propagator. A non-linear transformation of the angle variables allows for a determination of the semiclassical path and the jumps without solving a boundary-value problem. The semi…
We report coherent interactions within an ensemble of silicon-vacancy color centers in diamond. The interactions are ascribed to resonant dipole-dipole coupling. Further, we demonstrate control over resonant center pairs by using a driving optical pulse to induce collective, interaction-enabled Rabi-oscillations in the ensemble. Non-resonant center pairs do not undergo collective oscillations.
It is not clear if the performance of a quantum lidar or radar, without an idler and only using Gaussian resources, could exceed the performance of a semiclassical setup based on coherent states and homodyne detection. Here we prove this is indeed the case by showing that an idler-free squeezed-based setup can beat this semiclassical benchmark. More generally, we show that probes whose displacement and squeezing are jointly optimized can strictly outperform coherent states with the same mean number of input photons for both the problems of quantum illumination and reading.
A semiclassical approximation for the matrix elements of a quantum chaotic propagator in the scar function basis has been derived. The obtained expression is solely expressed in terms of canonical invariant objects. For our purpose, we have used, the recently developed, semiclassical matrix elements of the propagator in coherent states, together with the linearization of the flux in the neighborhood of a classically unstable periodic orbit of chaotic two dimensional systems. The expression here derived is successfully verified to be exact for a (linear) cat map, after the theory is adapted to …
Recently, substantial amount of activity in Quantum General Relativity (QGR) has focussed on the semiclassical analysis of the theory. In this paper we want to comment on two such developments: 1) Polymer-like states for Maxwell theory and linearized gravity constructed by Varadarajan which use much of the Hilbert space machinery that has proved useful in QGR and 2) coherent states for QGR, based on the general complexifier method, with built-in semiclassical properties. We show the following: A) Varadarajan's states {\it are} complexifier coherent states. This unifies all states constructed s…
We evaluate the advantages of performing cross-phase modulation (XPM) on a very-far-off-resonance atomic system. We consider a ladder system with a weak (few-photon level) control coherent field imparting a conditional nonlinear phase shift on a probe beam. We find that by coupling to an optical resonator the optimal XPM is enhanced proportional to the finesse of the resonator by a factor of $F/4π$. We present a semi-classical description of the system and show that the phenomenon is optimal in the self-defined condition of off-resonance-effective-cooperativity equal to one.
BPS coherent states closely resemble semiclassical states and they have gravity dual descriptions in terms of semiclassical geometries. The half BPS coherent states have been well studied, however less is known about quarter BPS coherent states. Here we provide a construction of quarter BPS coherent states. They are coherent states built with two matrix fields, generalizing the half BPS case. These states are both the eigenstates of annihilation operators and in the kernel of dilatation operator. Another useful labeling of quarter BPS states is by representations of Brauer algebras and their p…
We establish the difference between the propagation of semiclassical Wigner functions and classical Liouville propagation. First we re-discuss the semiclassical limit for the propagator of Wigner functions, which on its own leads to their classical propagation. Then, via stationary phase evaluation of the full integral evolution equation, using the semiclassical expressions of Wigner functions, we provide the correct geometrical prescription for their semiclassical propagation. This is determined by the classical trajectories of the tips of the chords defined by the initial semiclassical Wigne…
