The classical limit of the Schrodinger equation implies the orthodox statistical interpretation for degrees of freedom in finite-dimensional subspaces of the full Hilbert space, but the argument presented does not imply the Born interpretation for degrees of freedom that have a classical counterpart.
It is proved by a functional method that the conventional expression for the Dirac current is the only conserved 4-vector implied by the Dirac equation that is a function of just the quantum state. The demonstration is extended to derive the unique conserved currents implied by the coupled Maxwell-Dirac equations and the Klein-Gordon equation. The uniqueness of the usual Pauli and Schrodinger currents follows by regarding these as the non-relativistic limits of the Dirac and Klein-Gordon currents, respectively. The existence and properties of further conserved vectors that are not functions of…
We consider the Bohr correspondence limit of the Schrodinger wave function for an atomic elliptic state. We analyse this limit in the context of Nelson's stochastic mechanics, exposing an underlying deterministic dynamical system in which trajectories converge to Keplerian motion on an ellipse. This solves the long standing problem of obtaining Kepler's laws of planetary motion in a quantum mechanical setting. In this quantum mechanical setting, local mild instabilities occur in the Kelperian orbit for eccentricities greater than 1/\sqrt{2} which do not occur classically.
We show that and how the Coulomb potential can be regularized and solved exactly at the imaginary couplings. The new spectrum of energies is real and bounded as expected, but its explicit form proves totally different from the usual real-coupling case.
We recycle Cruz et al.'s (Phys. Lett. A 369 (2007) 400) work on the classical and quantum position-dependent mass (PDM) oscillators. To elaborate on the ordering ambiguity, we properly amend some of the results reported in their work and discuss the classical and quantum mechanical correspondence for the PDM harmonic oscillators. We use a point canonical transformation and show that one unique quantum PDM oscillator Hamiltonian (consequently, one unique ordering-ambiguity parametric set j=l=-1/4 and k=-1/2) is obtained. To show that such a parametric set is not just a manifestation of the quan…
The investigation of quantum-classical correspondence may lead to gain a deeper understanding of the classical limit of quantum theory. We develop a quantum formalism on the basis of a linear-invariant theorem, which gives an exact quantum-classical correspondence for damped oscillatory systems that are perturbed by an arbitrary force. Within our formalism, the quantum trajectory and expectation values of quantum observables are precisely coincide with their classical counterparts in the case where we remove the global quantum constant h from their quantum results. In particular, we illustrate…
We introduce a method to construct wave packets with complete classical and quantum correspondence in one-dimensional non-relativistic quantum mechanics. First, we consider two similar oscillators with equal total energy. In classical domain, we can easily solve this model and obtain the trajectories in the space of variables. This picture in the quantum level is equivalent with a hyperbolic partial differential equation which gives us a freedom for choosing the initial wave function and its initial slope. By taking advantage of this freedom, we propose a method to choose an appropriate initia…
We describe a gedanken experiment with an interferometer in the case of pre- and postselection in two different time symmetric ways: We apply the ABL formalism and the de Broglie--Bohm model. Interpreting these descriptions ontologically, we get two very different concepts of reality. Finally, we discuss some problems implied by these concepts.
We show unexpected connection of Set Theoretical Forcing with Quantum Mechanical lattice of projections over some separable Hilbert space. The basic ingredient of the construction is the rule of indistinguishability of Standard and some Nonstandard models of Peano Arithmetic. The ingeneric reals introduced by M. Ozawa will correspond to simultaneous measurement of incompatible observables. We also discuss some results concerning model theoretical analysis of Small Exotic Smooth Structures on topological 4-space. Forcing appears rather naturally in this context and the rule of indistinguishabil…
Square billiards are quantum systems complying with the dynamical quantum-classical correspondence. Hence an initially localized wavefunction launched along a classical periodic orbit evolves along that orbit, the spreading of the quantum amplitude being controlled by the spread of the corresponding classical statistical distribution. We investigate wavepacket dynamics and compute the corresponding de Broglie-Bohm trajectories in the quantum square billiard. We also determine the trajectories and statistical distribution dynamics for the equivalent classical billiard. Individual Bohmian trajec…
Classical and quantum mechanics across representations: an operational reading of the Wigner Weyl correspondence
University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics(维也纳大学物理学院);Vienna Center for Quantum Science and Technology(维也纳量子科学与技术中心);Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI), Austrian Academy of Sciences(奥地利科学院量子光学与量子信息研究所);Constructor University(Constructor大学);University of Geneva, Group of Applied Physics(日内瓦大学应用物理组)
Bell's inequalities, in the form given by Cerf and Adami, are derived from the combination of the second law of thermodynamics and the Markov postulate. Violations of these inequalities are discussed in terms of the mixing characteristics of the density operators. A quantum mechanical bound for a system of three qubits, two of which are entangled, is found and is shown to lead to strong subadditivity in one case. Finally, in interpreting the results, the role the uncertainty relations play in the definition of entropy and the second law is discussed, demonstrating a link to Bell's inequalities…
The principle of correspondence (or classical limit) is essential in quantum mechanics. Yet, how and why quantum phenomena vanish at the macroscopic scale are issues still open to debate. Here, quantum mechanical predictions for Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states of qubits are shown to be easier to reproduce with a classical model as the number of particles increases, even in the absence of loopholes or conspiratorial mechanisms of any kind. It is conjectured that this result may lead to the simplest way to express the principle of correspondence.
Within the recent reformulation of quantum mechanics where a potential function is not required, we show how to reconstruct the potential so that a correspondence with the standard formulation could be established. However, severe restriction is placed by the correspondence on the kinematics of such problems.
Quantum mechanics and classical mechanics are two very different theories, but the correspondence principle states that quantum particles behave classically in the limit of high quantum number. In recent years much research has been done on extending both quantum mechanics and classical mechanics into the complex domain. This letter shows that these complex extensions continue to exhibit a correspondence, and that this correspondence becomes more pronounced in the complex domain. The association between complex quantum mechanics and complex classical mechanics is subtle and demonstrating this …
The paper scrutinizes both the similarities and the differences between the classical optics and quantum mechanical theories in phase space, especially between the Wigner distribution functions defined in the respective phase spaces. Classical optics is able to provide an understanding of either the corpuscular or wave aspects of quantum mechanics, reflected in phase space through the classical limit of the quantum Wigner distribution function or the Wigner distribution function in classical optics, respectively. However, classical optics, as any classical theory, cannot mimic the wave-particl…
For higher derivative theories, using the approach of Caratheodory's equivalent Lagrangian, we show that there exist novel formulations of Hamilton-Jacobi equations, which are different from the formulations derived from Hamilton's canonical approach. The quantum mechanical correspondences of these novel Hamilton-Jacobi equations lead to nonlinear quantum mechanics, which seem being able to avoid the unbounded negative energy problem in the quantum mechanics of higher derivative theories.
The correspondence of a new form of quantum mechanics based on a quantum version of the action principle, which was proposed earlier [arXiv:0807.3508], with the ordinary quantum mechanics is established. New potentialities of the quantum action principle in the interpretation of quantum mechanics are considered.
The logic of a physical theory reflects the structure of the propositions referring to the behaviour of a physical system in the domain of the relevant theory. It is argued in relation to classical mechanics that the propositional structure of the theory allows truth-value assignment in conformity with the traditional conception of a correspondence theory of truth. Every proposition in classical mechanics is assigned a definite truth value, either 'true' or 'false', describing what is actually the case at a certain moment of time. Truth-value assignment in quantum mechanics, however, differs; …
A connection between integrable quantum field theory and the spectral theory of ordinary differential equations is reviewed, with particular emphasis being given to its relevance to certain problems in PT-symmetric quantum mechanics.
The PBR theorem gives insight into how quantum mechanics describes a physical system. This paper explores PBRs' general result and shows that it does not disallow the ensemble interpretation of quantum mechanics and maintains, as it must, the fundamentally statistical character of quantum mechanics (QM). This is illustrated by drawing an analogy with an ideal gas. An ensemble interpretation of the Schrodinger cat experiment that does not violate the PBR conclusion is also given. The ramifications, limits, and weaknesses of the PBR assumptions, especially in light of lessons learned from Bell's…
The aim of this paper is to review the classical limit of Quantum Mechanics and to precise the well known threat of chaos (and fundamental graininess)to the correspondence principle. We will introduce a formalism for this classical limit that allows us to find the surfaces defined by the constants of the motion in phase space. Then in the integrable case we will find the classical trajectories, and in the non-integrable one the fact that regular initial cells become "amoeboid-like". This deformations and their consequences can be considered as a threat to the correspondence principle unless we…
We investigate the algebraic structure of the Feynman propagator with a general time-dependent quadratic Hamiltonian system. Using the Lie-algebraic technique we obtain a normal-ordered form of the time-evolution operator, and then the propagator is easily derived by a simple ``Integration Within Ordered Product" (IWOP) technique.It is found that this propagator contains a classical generating function which demonstrates a new correspondence between classical and quantum mechanics.
Recently, it has been argued [arXiv:1111.6597, arXiv:1005.5173] that different quantum states do necessarily correspond to different elements of reality, under the assumption that quantum mechanics is correct and that measurement settings can be freely chosen. Here, we prove that additional assumptions are necessary to derive this results, which then has not general validity.
After revealing difficulties of the standard time-dependent perturbation theory in quantum mechanics mainly from the viewpoint of practical calculation, we propose a new quasi-canonical perturbation theory. In the new theory, the dynamics of physical observables, instead of that of coefficients of wave-function expansion, is formulated so that the gauge-invariance and correspondence principles are observed naturally.
The origin of nonclassicality in quantum mechanics (QM) has been investigated recently by a number of authors with a view to identifying axioms that would single out quantum mechanics as a special theory within a broader framework such as convex operational theories. In these studies, the axioms tend to be logically independent in the sense that no specific ordering of the axioms is implied. Here, we identify a hierarchy of five nonclassical features that separate QM from a classical theory: (Q1) Incompatibility and indeterminism; (Q2) Contextuality; (Q3) Entanglement; (Q4) Nonlocality and (Q5…
Problems of interacting quantum magnetic moments become exponentially complex with increasing number of particles. As a result, classical equations are often used but the validity of reduction of a quantum problem to a classical problem should be justified. In this paper we formulate the correspondence principle, which shows that the classical equations of motion for a system of dipole interacting spins have identical form with the quantum equations. The classical simulations based on the correspondence principle for spin systems provide a practical tool to study different macroscopic spin phy…
We generalize the derivation of the Wallis formula for $π$ from a variational computation of the spectrum of the Hydrogen atom. We obtain infinite product formulas for certain combinations of gamma functions, which include irrational numbers such as $\sqrt 2$ as well as some nested radicals. We also derive Euler's reflection formula for reciprocals of positive even integers. We show that Bohr's correspondence principle allows us to derive our product formulas and the reflection formula without the need for the limit definition of the gamma function.
In this paper, we introduce the theoretical framework underlying our proposed methodology of verification and validation (V&V) for quantum mechanical emission models using analogous macroscopic electromagnetic systems. We derive the correspondence between quantum mechanics and electromagnetism using the transfer matrix approach, and describe the electromagnetic analog that will be used to anchor the atomistic quantum tunneling simulations. Finally, we illustrate this correspondence by comparing the quantum mechanical and electromagnetic systems for some simple, analytically soluble examples an…
Dirac's method of classical analogy is employed to incorporate quantum degrees of freedom into modern nonequilibrium thermodynamics. The proposed formulation of dissipative quantum mechanics builds entirely upon the geometric structures implied by commutators and canonical correlations. A lucid formulation of a nonlinear quantum master equation follows from the thermodynamic structure. Complex classical environments with internal structure can be handled readily.
If quantum mechanics were to be applicable to macroscopic objects, classical mechanics would have to be a limiting case of quantum mechanics. Then the category Set that packages classical mechanics has to be in some sense a 'limiting case' of the category Hilb packaging quantum mechanics. Following from this assumption, quantum-classical correspondence can be considered as a mapping of the category Hilb to the category Set, i.e., a functor from Hilb to Set, taking place in the macroscopic limit. As a procedure, which takes us from an object of the category Hilb (i.e., a Hilbert space) in the m…
We sketch a group-theoretical framework, based on the Heisenberg-Weyl group, encompassing both quantum and classical statistical descriptions of mechanical systems. We re-define in group-theoretical terms the kinematical arena and the state-space of the system, achieving a unified quantum-classical language and a novel version of the correspondence principle. We briefly discuss the structure of observables and dynamics within our framework.
We give a systematic treatment of the quantum mechanics of a spin zero particle in a combined electromagnetic field and a weak gravitational field, which is produced by a slow moving matter source. The analysis is based on the Klein-Gordon equation expressed in generally covariant form and coupled minimally to the electromagnetic field. The Klein-Gordon equation is recast into Schroedinger equation form (SEF), which we then analyze in the non-relativistic limit. We include a discussion of some rather general observable physical effects implied by the SEF, concentrating on gravitomagnetism. Of …
The present monograph explores the correspondence between quantum and classical mechanics in the particular context of spin systems, that is, SU(2)-symmetric mechanical systems. Here, a detailed presentation of quantum spin-j systems, with emphasis on the SO(3)-invariant decomposition of their operator algebras, is followed by an introduction to the Poisson algebra of the classical spin system and a similarly detailed presentation of its SO(3)-invariant decomposition. Subsequently, this monograph proceeds with a detailed and systematic study of general quantum-classical symbol correspondences …
We study the EPR-type correlations from the perspective of the relational interpretation of quantum mechanics. We argue that these correlations do not entail any form of 'non-locality', when viewed in the context of this interpretation. The abandonment of strict Einstein realism implied by the relational stance permits to reconcile quantum mechanics, completeness, (operationally defined) separability, and locality.
If the block universe view is correct, the future and the past have similar status and one would expect physical theories to involve final as well as initial boundary conditions. A plausible consistency condition between the initial and final boundary conditions in non-relativistic quantum mechanics leads to the idea that the properties of macroscopic quantum systems, relevantly measuring instruments, are uniquely determined by the boundary conditions. An important element in reaching that conclusion is that preparations and measurements belong in a special class because they involve many subs…
We present an explicit correspondence between quantum mechanics and the classical theory of irreversible thermodynamics as developed by Onsager, Prigogine et al. Our correspondence maps irreversible Gaussian Markov processes into the semiclassical approximation of quantum mechanics. Quantum-mechanical propagators are mapped into thermodynamical probability distributions. The Feynman path integral also arises naturally in this setup. The fact that quantum mechanics can be translated into thermodynamical language provides additional support for the conjecture that quantum mechanics is not a fund…
The approximations of classical mechanics resulting from quantum mechanics are richer than a correspondence of classical dynamical variables with self-adjoint Hilbert space operators. Assertion that classical dynamic variables correspond to self-adjoint Hilbert space operators is disputable and sets unnatural limits on quantum mechanics. Well known examples of classical dynamical variables not associated with self-adjoint Hilbert space operators are discussed as a motivation for the realizations of quantum field theory that lack Hermitian field operators but exhibit interaction.
Entanglement is one of the most intriguing features of quantum mechanics. It gives rise to peculiar correlations which cannot be reproduced by a large class of alternative theories, the so-called hidden-variable models, that use parameters in addition to the wave-function. This incompatibility was quantified through the celebrated Bell inequalities, and more recently through new inequalities due to Leggett. Experiments confirm the predictions of quantum mechanics. However, this does not imply that quantum mechanics is the ultimate theory, unsusceptible of improvement, nor that quantum mechanic…
We propose an approach to the quantum-classical correspondence based on a deformation of the momentum and kinetic operators of quantum mechanics. Making use of the factorization method, we construct classical versions of the momentum and kinetic operators which, in addition to the standard quantum expressions, contain terms that are functionals of the N-particle density. We show that this implementation of the quantum-classical correspondence is related to Witten's deformation of the exterior derivative and Laplacian, introduced in the context of supersymmetric quantum mechanics. The correspon…
The intrinsic multivaluedness of interaction process, revealed in Part I of this series of papers, is interpreted as the origin of the true dynamical (in particular, quantum) chaos. The latter is causally deduced as unceasing series of transitions, dynamically probabilistic by their origin, between the equally real, but incompatible 'realisations' (modes of interaction) of a system. The obtained set of realisations form the causally derived, intrinsically complete "space of events" providing the crucial extension of the notion of probability and the method of its first-principle calculation. T…
We establish a one-to-one mapping between entanglement entropy, energy, and temperature (quantum entanglement mechanics) with black hole entropy, Komar energy, and Hawking temperature, respectively. We show this explicitly for 4-D spherically symmetric asymptotically flat and non-flat space-times with single and multiple horizons. We exploit an inherent scaling symmetry of entanglement entropy and identify scaling transformations that generate an infinite number of systems with the same entanglement entropy, distinguished only by their respective energies and temperatures. We show that this sc…
The true dynamical randomness is obtained as a natural fundamental property of deterministic quantum systems. It provides quantum chaos passing to the classical dynamical chaos under the ordinary semiclassical transition, which extends the correspondence principle to chaotic systems. In return one should accept the modified form of quantum formalism (presented by the Schroedinger equation) which, however, does not contradict the ordinary form and the main postulates of quantum mechanics. It introduces the principle of the fundamental dynamic multivaluedness (redundance) extending the quantum p…
The recently proposed ER=EPR correspondence postulates the existence of wormholes (Einstein-Rosen bridges) between entangled states (such as EPR pairs). Entanglement is famously known to be unobservable in quantum mechanics, in that there exists no observable (or, equivalently, projector) that can accurately pick out whether a generic state is entangled. Many features of the geometry of spacetime, however, are observables, so one might worry that the presence or absence of a wormhole could identify an entangled state in ER=EPR, violating quantum mechanics, specifically, the property of state-i…
There are reasons to doubt that making sense of the wave function (other than as a probability algorithm) will help with the project of making sense of quantum mechanics. The consistency of the quantum-mechanical correlation laws with the existence of their correlata is demonstrated. The demonstration makes use of the fact (which is implied by the indeterminacy principle) that physical space is not partitioned "all the way down," and it requires that the eigenvalue-eigenstate link be replaced by a different interpretive principle, whose implications are explored.
The trajectory representation in the high energy limit (Bohr correspondence principle) manifests a residual indeterminacy. This indeterminacy is compared to the indeterminacy found in the classical limit (Planck's constant to 0) [Int. J. Mod. Phys. A 15, 1363 (2000)] for particles in the classically allowed region, the classically forbiden region, and near the WKB turning point. The differences between Bohr's and Planck's principles for the trajectory representation are compared with the differences between these correspondence principles for the wave representation. The trajectory representat…
A one-to-one correspondence is established between linearized space-time metrics of general relativity and the wave equations of quantum mechanics. Also, the key role of boundary conditions in distinguishing quantum mechanics from classical mechanics will emerge naturally from the procedure. Finally, we will find that the methodology will enable us to introduce not only test charges but also test masses by means of gauges.
According to Schroedinger's ideas, classical dynamics of point particles should correspond to the " geometrical optics " limit of a linear wave equation, in the same way as ray optics is the limit of wave optics. It is shown that, using notions of modern wave theory, the " geometrical optics " analogy leads to the correspondence between a classical Hamiltonian H and a " quantum " wave equation in a natural and general way. In particular, the correspondence is unambiguous also in the case where H contains mixed terms involving momentum and position. In the line of Schroedinger's ideas, it is al…
In order to figure out why quantum physics needs the complex Hilbert space, many attempts have been made to distinguish the C*-algebras and von Neumann algebras in more general classes of abstractly defined Jordan algebras (JB- and JBW-algebras). One particularly important distinguishing property was identified by Alfsen and Shultz and is the existence of a dynamical correspondence. It reproduces the dual role of the selfadjoint operators as observables and generators of dynamical groups in quantum mechanics. In the paper, this concept is extended to another class of nonassociative algebras, a…
We generalize the formulation of non-commutative quantum mechanics to three dimensional non-commutative space. Particular attention is paid to the identification of the quantum Hilbert space in which the physical states of the system are to be represented, the construction of the representation of the rotation group on this space, the deformation of the Leibnitz rule accompanying this representation and the implied necessity of deforming the co-product to restore the rotation symmetry automorphism. This also implies the breaking of rotational invariance on the level of the Schroedinger action …
Pöschl-Teller-driven solutions for quantum mechanical fluctuations are triggered off by single scalar field theories obtained through a systematic perturbative procedure for generating deformed defects. The analytical properties concerning the quantum fluctuations in one-dimension, zero-mode states, first- and second- excited states, and energy density profiles are all obtained from deformed topological and non-topological structures supported by real scalar fields. Results are firstly derived from an integrated $λϕ^4$ theory, with corresponding generalizations applied to starting $λχ^4$ and {…
The correspondence principle is a cornerstone in the entire construction of quantum mechanics. This principle has been recently challenged by the observation of an early-time exponential increase of the out-of-time-ordered correlator (OTOC) in classically non-chaotic systems [E.B. Rozenbaum et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 014101 (2020)], Here we show that the correspondence principle is restored after a proper treatment of the singular points. Furthermore our results show that the OTOC maintains its role as a diagnostic of chaotic dynamics.
The correspondence principle asserts that quantum mechanics resembles classical mechanics in the high-quantum-number limit. In the past few years many papers have been published on the extension of both quantum mechanics and classical mechanics into the complex domain. However, the question of whether complex quantum mechanics resembles complex classical mechanics at high energy has not yet been studied. This paper introduces the concept of a local quantum probability density $ρ(z)$ in the complex plane. It is shown that there exist infinitely many complex contours $C$ of infinite length on wh…
In this paper a one to one correspondence is established between space-time metrics of general relativity and the wave equations of quantum mechanics. This is done by first taking the square root of the metric associated with a space and from there, passing directly to a corresponding expression in the dual space. It is shown that in the case of a massless particle, Maxwell's equation for a photon follows while in the case of a particle with mass, Dirac's equation results as a first approximation. Moreover, this one to one correspondence suggests a natural explanation of wave-particle duality.…
The scientific methodology based on two descriptive levels, ontic (reality as it is ) and epistemic (observational), is briefly presented. Following Schrödinger, we point to the possible gap between these two descriptions. Our main aim is to show that, although ontic entities may be inaccessible for observations, they can be useful for clarification of the physical nature of operational epistemic entities. We illustrate this thesis by the concrete example: starting with the concrete ontic model preceding quantum mechanics (the latter is treated as an epistemic model), namely, prequantum classi…