Aspects of nonlocality from a quantum trajectory perspective: A WKB approach to Bohmian mechanics

Abstract

Nonlocality is a property of paramount importance both conceptually and computationally exhibited by quantum systems, which has no classical counterpart. Conceptually, it is important because it implies that the evolving system has information on what happens at any space point and time. Computationally, because such a knowledge makes any calculation intractable as the number of degrees of freedom involved increases beyond a few of them. Bohmian mechanics, with its trajectory-based formalism in real configuration space, can help to better understand nonlocality. A detailed analysis of how nonlocal information is transmitted to quantum trajectories in simple systems (free particle and harmonic oscillator) turns out to be very interesting when compared to analogous systems in classical mechanics.