Semiclassical (stochastic) wave equations are proposed for the coupled dynamics of atomic quantum states and semiclassical radiation field. All relevant predictions of standard unitary quantum dynamics are exactly reproducible in the framework of stochastic wave equation model. We stress in such a way that the concept of stochastic wave equations is not to be restricted to the widely used Markovian approximation.
Semiclassical quantization is exact only for the so called \emph{solvable} potentials, such as the harmonic oscillator. In the \emph{nonsolvable} case the semiclassical phase, given by a series in $\hbar$, yields more or less approximate results and eventually diverges due to the asymptotic nature of the expansion. A quantum phase is derived to bypass these shortcomings. It achieves exact quantization of nonsolvable potentials and allows to obtain the quantum wavefunction while locally approaching the best pre-divergent semiclassical expansion. An iterative procedure allowing to implement prac…
The exact semiclassical quantization condition represents a cumbersome series expansion, so that only the main term of it is usually taken into account. We propose a way to find next terms without new additional calculations. Results are exact for a wide class of actual potentials.
We study the accuracy of several alternative semiclassical methods by computing analytically the energy levels for many large classes of exactly solvable shape invariant potentials. For these potentials, the ground state energies computed via the WKB method typically deviate from the exact results by about 10%, a recently suggested modification using nonintegral Maslov indices is substantially better, and the supersymmetric WKB quantization method gives exact answers for all energy levels.
We derive the steady state solution of the Fokker-Planck equation that describes the dynamics of the nondegenerate optical parametric oscillator in the truncated Wigner representation of the density operator. The adiabatic limit of strong pump damping is assumed. This phase space image provides a clear view of the intracavity two-mode entangled state valid in all operating regimes of the OPO. A nongaussian distribution is obtained for the above threshold solution.
Semiclassical methods provide important tools for approximating solutions in quantum mechanics. In several cases these methods are intriguingly exact rather than approximate, as has been shown by direct calculations on particular systems. In this paper we prove that the long-conjectured exactness of the supersymmetry-based semiclassical quantization condition for broken supersymmetry is a consequence of the additive shape invariance for the corresponding potentials.
A mixed semiclassical initial value representation expression for spectroscopic calculations is derived. The formulation takes advantage of the time-averaging filtering and the hierarchical properties of different trajectory based propagation methods. A separable approximation is then introduced that greatly reduces (about an order of magnitude) the computational cost compared with a full Herman-Kluk time-averaging semiclassical calculation for the same systems. The expression is exact for the harmonic case and it is tested numerically for a Morse potential coupled to one or two additional har…
The Casimir interaction between two perfectly conducting, infinite, concentric cylinders is computed using a semiclassical approximation that takes into account families of classical periodic orbits that reflect off both cylinders. It is then compared with the exact result obtained by the mode-by-mode summation technique. We analyze the validity of the semiclassical approximation and show that it improves the results obtained through the proximity theorem.
The exactness of the semiclassical method for three-dimensional problems in quantum mechanics is analyzed. The wave equation appropriate in the quasiclassical region is derived. It is shown that application of the standard leading-order WKB quantization condition to this equation reproduces exact energy eigenvalues for all solvable spherically symmetric potentials.
The necessary and sufficient conditions for the exactness of the semiclassical approximation for the solution of the Schrödinger and Klein-Gordon equations are obtained. It is shown that the existence of an exact semiclassical solution of the Schrödinger equation determines both the semiclassical wave function and the interaction potential uniquely up to the choice of the boundary conditions. This result also holds for the Klein-Gordon equation. Its implications for the solution of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation for the FRW scalar field minisuperspace models are discussed. In particular, exact se…
The semiclassical dynamics of atoms are theoretically studied, when the atoms are confined inside a standing-wave high-finesse resonator. The atoms are cooled by scattering processes in which the photons of a transverse laser are coherently scattered into the cavity mode. We derive a Fokker-Planck equation for the atomic center-of-mass variables which allows us to determine the equations of motion in the semiclassical limit for any value of the intensity of the laser field. We extract its prediction for the dynamics when the resonator is essentially in the vacuum state and the atoms are cooled…
We provide a semiclassical optics derivation of Einstein's rate equations (ERE) for a two-level system illuminated by a broadband light field, setting a limit for their validity that depends on the light spectral properties (namely on the height and width of its spectrum). Starting from the optical Bloch equations for individual atoms, the ensemble averaged atomic inversion is shown to follow ERE under two concurrent hypotheses: (i) the decorrelation of the inversion at a given time from the field at later times, and (ii) a Markov approximation owed to the short correlation time of the light f…
In this work we study the stochastic resonance (SR) effect in a driven dissipative Jaynes-Cummings model. The SR effect is systematically studied in the semiclassical and full quantum frameworks and in both cases we find that SRs simultaneously occur for the optical and atomic freedoms. In particular, at zero temperature quantum SR can be induced merely by vacuum fluctuations. The qualitative features of semiclassical SR and quantum SR are similar, but the parameter region of quantum SR are shifted from the semiclassical region due to the widely-used factorization in obtaining semiclassical eq…
The spectrum of eigenenergies of a quantum integrable system whose hamiltonian depends on a single parameter shows degeneracies (crossings) when the parameter varies. We derive a semiclassical expression for the density of crossings in the plane energy-parameter, that is the number of crossings per unit of energy and unit of parameter, in terms of classical periodic orbits. We compare the results of the semiclassical formula with exact quantum calculations for two specific quantum integrable billiards.
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.
We complement previous studies of an ion coupled with an optical cavity in the dispersive regime, for a model which exhibits bistability of different configurations in the semiclassical description. Our approach is based on a truncated evolution in phase space and is intended to explore an especially interesting parameter region where the fully quantum-mechanical solution becomes hard but the crudest semiclassical approach fails to capture essential phenomena. We compare the results of our techniques with the ones from numerical diagonalization of the quantum evolution and find that although t…
Using a semiclassical model of photodetection with Poissonian noise and insights from quantum metrology, we prove that linear optics and photon counting can optimally estimate the separation between two incoherent point sources without regard to Rayleigh's criterion. The model is applicable to weak thermal or fluorescent sources as well as lasers.
Shegelski, Kavka, and Hynbida have developed a method for calculating the lifetime of a particle initially localized in a potential well exactly quantum mechanically by employing a heuristic expression for the lifetime <t>. Their method allows for the inclusion of a bound state, and their results for tunneling through a centrifugal barrier demonstrate the major role that bound states play in determining the lifetime. In this comment, I show that one can greatly simplify the analysis by calculating <t^2>^(1/2) instead. Results obtained are exact when no bound state is present. In the presence o…
In the semiclassical treatment of gravity, an external observer can measure only the mean (not the exact) mass of the black hole (BH). By contrast, in fully quantum gravity the exact (not only mean) BH mass is measurable by the external observer. This additional information (missing in the semiclassical treatment) available to the external observer significantly helps to understand how information leaks out during the BH evaporation.
A semiclassical Bohr-Sommerfeld approximation is derived for an N-particle, two-mode Bose-Hubbard system modeling a Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well potential. This semiclassical description is based on the `classical' dynamics of the mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii equation and is expected to be valid for large N. We demonstrate the possibility to reconstruct quantum properties of the N-particle system from the mean-field dynamics. The resulting semiclassical eigenvalues and eigenstates are found to be in very good agreement with the exact ones, even for small values of N, both for subcr…
In this work the two site Bose-Hubbard model is studied analytically in the limit of weak coupling u and large number of particles N . The semiclassical approximation where \frac{1}{N} plays the role of Planck's constant was used and perturbation theory to order u^{2} was applied. In particular, the difference in the occupation between the two sites, where initially all particles are at one site was calculated analytically. Excellent agreement with the exact numerical solution was found. This quantity exhibits collapses and revivals that superimpose rapid oscillations. The occupation differenc…
The spectral and temporal response of a set of $N$ quantum emitters embedded in a photonic cavity is studied. Quantum mechanically, such systems can be described by the Tavis-Cummings (TC) model of $N$ two-level systems coupled to a single light mode. Here we compare the full quantum solution of the TC model for different numbers of quantum emitters with its semiclassical limit after a pulsed excitation of the cavity mode. Considering different pulse amplitudes, we find that the spectra obtained from the TC model approach the semiclassical one for an increasing number of emitters $N$. Furtherm…
Recent experimental progress using ultracold gases in optical lattices necessitates a quantitative theoretical description for a significant number of bosons. In the present paper, we investigate if time-dependent semiclassical initial value methods, with propagators expressed as integrals over phase space using classical trajectories, is suitable to describe interacting bosons, concentrating on a single mode. Despite the nonlinear contribution from the self-interaction, the corresponding classical dynamics allows for a largely analytical treatment of the semiclassical propagator. We find that…
The amplitude-phase formulation of the Schrödinger equation is investigated within the context of uncoupled Ermakov systems, whereby the amplitude function is given by the auxiliary nonlinear equation. The classical limit of the amplitude and phase functions is analyzed by setting up a semiclassical Ermakov system. In this limit, it is shown that classical quantities, such as the classical probability amplitude and the reduced action, are obtained only when the semiclassical amplitude and the accumulated phase are non-oscillating functions respectively of the space and energy variables. Conver…
We investigate theoretically soliton excitations and dynamics of their formation in strongly correlated systems of ultracold bosonic atoms in two and three dimensional optical lattices. We derive equations of nonlinear hydrodynamics in the regime of strong interactions and incommensurate fillings, when atoms can be treated as hard core bosons. When parameters change in one direction only we obtain Korteweg-de Vries type equation away from half-filling and modified KdV equation at half-filling. We apply this general analysis to a problem of the decay of the density step. We consider stability o…
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…
Broadband homodyne detection of the light transmitted by a Fabry-Perot cavity containing a strongly-coupled $^{133}$Cs atom is used to probe the dynamic optical response in a regime where semiclassical theory predicts bistability but strong quantum corrections should apply. While quantum fluctuations destabilize true equilibrium bistability, our observations confirm the existence of metastable states with finite lifetimes and a hysteretic response is apparent when the optical drive is modulated on comparable timescales. Our experiment elucidates remnant semiclassical behavior in the attojoule …
A machine learning algorithm for partitioning the nuclear vibrational space into subspaces is introduced. The subdivision criterion is based on Liouville's theorem, i.e. best preservation of the unitary of the reduced dimensionality Jacobian determinant within each subspace along a probe full-dimensional classical trajectory. The algorithm is based on the idea of evolutionary selection and it is implemented through a probability graph representation of the vibrational space partitioning. We interface this customized version of genetic algorithms with our divide-and-conquer semiclassical initia…
The quantum mechanical many-body problem is rarely analytically solvable. One notable exception is the case of two electrons interacting via a Coulomb potential in a uniform magnetic field. The motion is confined to a two-dimensional plane, which is commonly the case in nanodevices. We compare the exact solution with the semiclassical energy spectrum and study the time-dependent dynamics of the system using the time-dependent variational principle.
We present a semiclassical quantization condition, i.e., quantum-classical correspondence, for steady states of nonadiabatic systems consisting of fast and slow degrees of freedom (DOFs) by extending Gutzwiller's trace formula to a nonadiabatic form. The quantum-classical correspondence indicates that a set of primitive hopping periodic orbits, which are invariant under time evolution in the phase space of the slow DOF, should be quantized. The semiclassical quantization is then applied to a simple nonadiabatic model and accurately reproduces exact quantum energy levels. In addition to the sem…
We present a rigorous derivation of a semiclassical propagator for anticommuting (fermionic) degrees of freedom, starting from an exact representation in terms of Grassmann variables. As a key feature of our approach the anticommuting variables are integrated out exactly, and an exact path integral representation of the fermionic propagator in terms of commuting variables is constructed. Since our approach is not based on auxiliary (Hubbard-Stratonovich) fields, it surpasses the calculation of fermionic determinants yielding a standard form $\int {\cal D}[ψ,ψ^{*}] {\rm e}^{i R[ψ,ψ^{*}]}$ with …
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…
We present a formalism for simulating quantum dynamics of lattice spin-one systems by first introducing local hidden variables and then doing semiclassical (truncated Wigner) approximation in the extended phase space. In this way we exactly take into account the local on-site Hamiltonian and approximately treat spin-spin interactions. In particular, we represent each spin with eight classical SU(3) variables. Three of them represent the usual spin components and five others are hidden variables representing local spin-spin correlations. We compare our formalism with exact quantum dynamics of f…
This paper deals with the critical issue of approximating the pre-exponential factor in semiclassical molecular dynamics. The pre-exponential factor is important because it accounts for the quantum contribution to the semiclassical propagator of the classical Feynman path fluctuations. Pre-exponential factor approximations are necessary when chaotic or complex systems are simulated. We introduced pre-exponential factor approximations based either on analytical considerations or numerical regularization. The approximations are tested for power spectrum calculations of more and more chaotic mode…
The semiclassical quantization conditions for all partial waves are derived for bound states of two interacting anyons in the presence of a uniform background magnetic field. Singular Aharonov-Bohm-type interactions between the anyons are dealt with by the modified WKB method of Friedrich and Trost. For s-wave bound state problems in which the choice of the boundary condition at short distance gives rise to an additional ambiguity, a suitable generalization of the latter method is required to develop a consistent WKB approach. We here show how the related self-adjoint extension parameter affec…
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 study the effects of non-hermitian perturbation on a quantum kicked model exhibiting a localization transition. Using an exact renormalization scheme, we show that the critical line separating the extended and localized phases approaches its semiclassical limit as the imaginary part of the kicking parameter is steadily increased. Further, the metastability of the quantum states appears to be directly correlated with the deviation between the semi-classical and quantum results. This direct evidence of quantum-classical correspondence suggests that non-hermitian perturbations may be used to m…
The Discrete Truncated Wigner Approximation (DTWA) is a semi-classical phase space method useful for the exploration of Many-body quantum dynamics. In this work we investigate Many-Body Localization (MBL) and thermalization using DTWA and compare its performance to exact numerical solutions. By taking as a benchmark case a 1D random field Heisenberg spin chain with short range interactions, and by comparing to numerically exact techniques, we show that DTWA is able to reproduce dynamical signatures that characterize both the thermal and the MBL phases. It exhibits the best quantitative agreeme…
We investigate symmetric oscillators, and in particular their quantization, by employing semiclassical and quantum phase functions introduced in the context of Liouville-Green transformations of the Schrödinger equation. For anharmonic oscillators, first order semiclassical quantization is seldom accurate and the higher order expansions eventually break down given the asymptotic nature of the series. A quantum phase that allows in principle to retrieve the exact quantum mechanical quantization condition and wavefunctions is given along with an iterative scheme to compute it. The arbitrariness …
Using the truncated Wigner approximation (TWA) we study quench dynamics of two-dimensional lattice systems consisting of interacting spinless fermions with potential disorder. First, we demonstrate that the semiclassical dynamics generally relaxes faster than the full quantum dynamics. We obtain this result by comparing the semiclassical dynamics with exact diagonalization and Lanczos propagation of one-dimensional chains. Next, exploiting the TWA capabilities of simulating large lattices, we investigate how the relaxation rates depend on the dimensionality of the studied system. We show that …
