Quantum effects in classical systems having complex energy

DOI10.1088/1751-8113/41/35/352003MaRDI QIDQ3525023zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors Dorje C. Brody, Daniel W. Hook, Carl M. Bender

Publication date 16 September 2008

Published in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/0804.4169

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Perturbative methods of renormalization applied to problems in quantum field theory (81T15) Strong interaction, including quantum chromodynamics (81V05)

Abstract: On the basis of extensive numerical studies it is argued that there are strong analogies between the probabilistic behavior of quantum systems defined by Hermitian Hamiltonians and the deterministic behavior of classical mechanical systems extended into the complex domain. Three models are examined: the quartic double-well potential $V(x)=x^4-5x^2$, the cubic potential $V(x)=frac12x^2-g{x}^3$, and the periodic potential $V(x)=-cosx$. For the quartic potential a wave packet that is initially localized in one side of the double-well can tunnel to the other side. Complex solutions to the classical equations of motion exhibit a remarkably analogous behavior. Furthermore, classical solutions come in two varieties, which resemble the even-parity and odd-parity quantum-mechanical bound states. For the cubic potential, a quantum wave packet that is initially in the quadratic portion of the potential near the origin will tunnel through the barrier and give rise to a probability current that flows out to infinity. The complex solutions to the corresponding classical equations of motion exhibit strongly analogous behavior. For the periodic potential a quantum particle whose energy lies between -1 and 1 can tunnel repeatedly between adjacent classically allowed regions and thus execute a localized random walk as it hops from region to region. Furthermore, if the energy of the quantum particle lies in a conduction band, then the particle delocalizes and drifts freely through the periodic potential. A classical particle having complex energy executes a qualitatively analogous local random walk, and there exists a narrow energy band for which the classical particle becomes delocalized and moves freely through the potential.

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Cited in

(17)

• The Hamilton-Jacobi analysis of powers of singular Lagrangians: a connection between the modified Schrödinger and the Navier-Stokes equations
• Complex-valued fractional statistics for D-dimensional harmonic oscillators
• Linearization: geometric, complex, and conditional
• Non-standard power-law Lagrangians in classical and quantum dynamics
• Quantum-classical crossover of the escape rate in the two-parameter doubly periodic potential
• Uses of complex metrics in cosmology
• Complex classical motion in potentials with poles and turning points
• Classical trajectories of 1D complex non-Hermitian Hamiltonian systems
• Quantum tunneling as a classical anomaly
• Classical particle in a complex elliptic potential
• Dynamical tunneling-like effects in 1D classical systems
• Complex trajectories in a classical periodic potential
• Probability density in the complex plane
• Manifestation of classical instability in the quantum density of states of a double well potential
• Complexified synchrony
• Periodic orbits for classical particles having complex energy
• The effects of conical singularity and the Wu-Yang magnetic monopole on the thermodynamic properties of a harmonic oscillator interacting with a potential

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