Bohm's Quantum Potential as an Internal Energy

TL;DR

This paper reinterprets Bohm's quantum potential as an internal energy, offering new insights into its role in stationary states and deriving Schrödinger's equation from a physical perspective.

Contribution

It presents a novel interpretation of Bohm's quantum potential as internal energy, enhancing understanding of quantum systems and providing a physically motivated derivation of Schrödinger's equation.

Findings

Quantum potential viewed as internal energy

Insight into stationary states

Derivation of Schrödinger's equation from physical principles

Abstract

We pursue our discussion of Fermi's surface initiated in Dennis, de Gosson and Hiley and show that Bohm's quantum potential can be viewed as an internal energy of a quantum system. This gives further insight into the role it played by the quantum potential in stationary states. It also allows us to provide a physically motivated derivation of Schr\"odinger's equation for a particle in an external potential.