Gauge transformations in quantum mechanics and the unification of nonlinear Schrödinger equations

Abstract

Beginning with ordinary quantum mechanics for spinless particles, together with the hypothesis that all experimental measurements consist of positional measurements at different times, we characterize directly a class of nonlinear quantum theories physically equivalent to linear quantum mechanics through nonlinear gauge transformations. We show that under two physically motivated assumptions, these transformations are uniquely determined: they are exactly the group of time-dependent, nonlinear gauge transformations introduced previously for a family of nonlinear Schrödinger equations. The general equation in this family, including terms considered by Kostin, by Bialynicki-Birula and Mycielski, and by Doebner and Goldin, with time-dependent coefficients, can be obtained from the linear Schrödinger equation through gauge transformation and a subsequent process we call gauge generalization. We thus unify, on fundamental grounds, a rather diverse set of nonlinear time evolutions in quantum mechanics.