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.
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.
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…
We propose to use semiclassical methods to treat laser control problems of chemical reaction dynamics. Our basic strategy is as follows: Laser-driven chemical reactions are considered to consist of two processes. One is the wavepacket propagation on an adiabatic potential energy surface (PES), and the other is the electronic transition between PES's. Because the latter process is mathematically equivalent to nonadiabatic transitions between Floquet (dressed) states, we can control such a process using the semiclassical Zhu-Nakamura theory for nonadiabatic transitions. For the former process, w…
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…
We consider a semiclassical approximation for the time evolution of an originally gaussian wave packet in terms of complex trajectories. We also derive additional approximations replacing the complex trajectories by real ones. These yield three different semiclassical formulae involving different real trajectories. One of these formulae is Heller's thawed gaussian approximation. The other approximations are non-gaussian and may involve several trajectories determined by mixed initial-final conditions. These different formulae are tested for the cases of scattering by a hard wall, scattering by…
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…
Using phase-space complexification, an Initial Value Representation (IVR) for the semiclassical propagator in position space is obtained as a composition of inverse Segal-Bargmann (S-B) transforms of the semiclassical coherent state propagator. The result is shown to be free of caustic singularities and identical to the Herman-Kluk (H-K) propagator, found ubiquitously in physical and chemical applications. We contrast the theoretical aspects of this particular IVR with the van Vleck-Gutzwiller (vV-G) propagator and one of its IVRs, often employed in order to evade the non-linear "root-search" …
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.
Propagation of the Wigner function is studied on two levels of semiclassical propagation, one based on the van-Vleck propagator, the other on phase-space path integration. Leading quantum corrections to the classical Liouville propagator take the form of a time-dependent quantum spot. Its oscillatory structure depends on whether the underlying classical flow is elliptic or hyperbolic. It can be interpreted as the result of interference of a \emph{pair} of classical trajectories, indicating how quantum coherences are to be propagated semiclassically in phase space. The phase-space path-integral…
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…
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.
We present a new semiclassical method that yields an approximation to the quantum mechanical wavefunction at a fixed, predetermined position. In the approach, a hierarchy of ODEs are solved along a trajectory with zero velocity. The new approximation is local, both literally and from a quantum mechanical point of view, in the sense that neighboring trajectories do not communicate with each other. The approach is readily extended to imaginary time propagation and is particularly useful for the calculation of quantities where only local information is required. We present two applications: the c…
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.
In this paper, we prove a quantitative version of the semiclassical limit from the Hartree to the Vlasov equation with singular interaction, including the Coulomb potential. To reach this objective, we also prove the propagation of velocity moments and weighted Schatten norms which implies the boundedness of the space density of particles uniformly in the Planck constant.
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.
Quantum mechanical real-time tunneling through general scattering potentials is studied in the semiclassical limit. It is shown that the exact path integral of the real-time propagator is dominated in the long time sector by quasi-stationary fluctuations associated with caustics. This leads to an extended semiclassical propagation scheme for wave packet dynamics which accurately describes deep tunneling through static and, for the first time, driven barrier potentials.
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 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 propose a semiclassical version of Shor's quantum algorithm to factorize integer numbers, based on spin-1/2 SU(2) generalized coherent states. Surprisingly, we find evidences that the algorithm's success probability is not too severely modified by our semiclassical approximation. This suggests that it is worth pursuing practical implementations of the algorithm on semiclassical devices.
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…
Trajectories are a central concept in our understanding of classical phenomena and also in rationalizing quantum mechanical effects. In this work we provide a way to determine semiclassical paths, approximations to quantum averages in phase space, directly from classical trajectories. We avoid the need of intermediate steps, like particular solutions to the Schroedinger equation or numerical integration in phase space by considering the system to be initially in a coherent state and by assuming that its early dynamics is governed by the Heller semiclassical approximation. Our result is valid f…
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.
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 ex…
We investigate the problem of propagation of three-component resonant light pulses with adiabatically varying amplitudes through a medium consisting of atoms with the tripod level configuration. By means of both analytic and numerical methods we found the two modes of shape-preserving pulse propagation. The pulse propagation velocity is found to be either equal to the speed of light or significantly slowed down, depending on a particular propagation mode.
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 analyze the dynamical generation of entanglement in systems of two interacting spins initially prepared in a product of spin coherent states. For arbitrary time-independent Hamiltonians, we derive a semiclassical expression for the purity of the reduced density matrix as function of time. The final formula, subsidiary to the linear entropy, shows that the short-time dynamics of entanglement depends exclusively on the stability of trajectories governed by the underlying classical Hamiltonian. Also, this semiclassical measure is shown to reproduce the general properties of its quantum counter…
We analyze the strength of polarization correlations between two light beams that can be achieved in the semiclassical regime using statistical mixtures of coherent states and binary on/off detectors. Under certain symmetry assumptions, the visibility of polarization correlations is shown to be bounded by 1/3, which is in a striking contrast with perfect 100% correlations exhibited by photon pairs prepared in the singlet state. The semiclassical limit is demonstrated in a measurement performed on a pair of laser beams undergoing correlated depolarization. This result illustrates the dramatic d…
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 …
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 treat a model based upon nonlinear optics for the semiclassical gravitational effects of quantum fields upon light propagation. Our model uses a nonlinear material with a nonzero third order polarizability. Here a probe light pulse satisfies a wave equation containing the expectation value of the squared electric field. This expectation value depends upon the presence of lower frequency quanta, the background field, and modifies the effective index of refraction, and hence the speed of the probe pulse. If the mean squared electric field is positive, then the pulse is slowed, which is analog…
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…
A general semiclassical approach to quantum systems with system-bath interactions is developed. We study system decoherence in detail using a coherent state semiclassical wavepacket method which avoids singularity issues arising in the usual Green's function approach. We discuss the general conditions under which it is approximately correct to discuss quantum decoherence in terms of a ``dephasing'' picture and we derive semiclassical expressions for the phase and phase distribution. Remarkably, an effective system wavefunction emerges whose norm measures the decoherence and is equivalent to a …
