A Quantum Mechanics Conservation of Energy Equation for Stationary States with Real Valued Wave Functions

TL;DR

This paper derives a classical conservation of energy equation for stationary quantum states with real wavefunctions, linking quantum properties to classical energy concepts and exploring implications for particle behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a novel energy equation for stationary states with real wavefunctions, connecting quantum mechanics with classical energy conservation and providing explicit functionals for kinetic energy.

Findings

Energy equation relates probability, pressure, and velocity functions.

Two velocity directions satisfy the energy equation, with different physical implications.

Model applied to particle in a box and hydrogen atom, revealing contradictory and unstable systems.

Abstract

Many-body quantum-mechanical stationary states that have real valued wavefunctions are shown to satisfy a classical conservation of energy equation with a kinetic energy function. The terms in the equation depend on the probability distribution, and, in addition, pressure and velocity functions, but these functions also depend on the probability distribution. There are two possible directions of the velocity that satisfy the energy equation. A linear momentum function is defined that integrates to zero, and this property is consistent with the expectation value of the linear momentum for stationary states with real-valued wave functions. The energy equation is integrated to obtain a version of the well known energy equation involving reduced density matrices, where the kinetic energy functional of the one-particle density matrix is replaced by a function of the electron density and a velocity function. Also, the noninteracting kinetic energy functional from the Hohenberg--Kohn theorem is given as an explicit functional of the orbital densities. For the purpose of describing the behavior of particles in a stationary state, a model based on the energy equation is constructed. The model is evaluated for the two different velocity directions using the grounds state of the particle in a one-dimensional box and the hydrogen atom. For one velocity direction, equations of motions with contradictory properties are obtained, and, in the other, an unstable system is found. A discussion is given with suggestions of additional elements that might improve the model.