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Coherent States and Modified de Broglie-Bohm Complex Quantum Trajectories

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Abstract

This paper examines the nature of classical correspondence in the case of coherent states at the level of quantum trajectories. We first show that for a harmonic oscillator, the coherent state complex quantum trajectories and the complex classical trajectories are identical to each other. This congruence in the complex plane, not restricted to high quantum numbers alone, illustrates that the harmonic oscillator in a coherent state executes classical motion. The quantum trajectories we consider are those conceived in a modified de Broglie-Bohm scheme. Though quantum trajectory representations are widely discussed in recent years, identical classical and quantum trajectories for coherent states are obtained only in the present approach. We may note that this result for standard harmonic oscillator coherent states is not totally unexpected because of their holomorphic nature. The study is extended to coherent states of a particle in an infinite potential well and that in a symmetric Poschl-Teller potential by solving for the trajectories numerically. For the Gazeau-Klauder coherent state of the infinite potential well, almost identical classical and quantum trajectories are obtained whereas for the Poschl-Teller potential, though classical trajectories are not regained, a periodic motion results as t→∞. Similar features were found for the SUSY quantum mechanics-based coherent states of the Poschl-Teller potential too, but this time the pattern of complex trajectories is quite different from that of the previous case. Thus we find that the method is a potential tool in analyzing the properties of generalized coherent states.

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Acknowledgements

M.V.J. wishes to thank Professors N.D. Hari Dass and M. Raveendranadhan for discussions and the Chennai Mathematical Institute, Chennai, India for hospitality during a short visit.

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  1. Department of Physics, St. Thomas College, Kozhencherri, 689641, Kerala, India

    Moncy V. John & Kiran Mathew

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  1. Moncy V. John
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  2. Kiran Mathew
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Correspondence to Moncy V. John.

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John, M.V., Mathew, K. Coherent States and Modified de Broglie-Bohm Complex Quantum Trajectories. Found Phys 43, 859–871 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-013-9722-8

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