Low-momentum classical mechanics with effective quantum potentials

Abstract

A recently introduced effective quantum potential theory is studied in a low-momentum region of phase space. This low-momentum approximation is used to show that the effective quantum potential induces a space-dependent mass and a smoothed potential, both of them constructed from the classical potential. The exact solution of the approximated theory in one spatial dimension is found. The concept of effective transmission and reflection coefficients for effective quantum potentials is proposed and discussed in comparison to an analogous quantum statistical mixture problem. The results are applied to the case of a square barrier.