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Simple Proof for Global Existence of Bohmian Trajectories

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Abstract

We address the question whether Bohmian trajectories exist for all times. Bohmian trajectories are solutions of an ordinary differential equation involving a wavefunction obeying either the Schrödinger or the Dirac equation. Some trajectories may end in finite time, for example by running into a node of the wavefunction, where the law of motion is ill-defined. The aim is to show, under suitable assumptions on the initial wavefunction and the potential, global existence of almost all solutions. We provide an alternative proof of the known global existence result for spinless Schrödinger particles and extend the result to particles with spin, to the presence of magnetic fields, and to Dirac wavefunctions. Our main new result is conditions on the current vector field on configuration-space-time which are sufficient for almost-sure global existence.

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Correspondence to Stefan Teufel.

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Communicated by G. Gallavotti

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Teufel, S., Tumulka, R. Simple Proof for Global Existence of Bohmian Trajectories. Commun. Math. Phys. 258, 349–365 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00220-005-1302-0

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