Quantum backflow for a free-particle hermite wavepacket

Abstract

Abstract Quantum backflow is the unexpected effect that wavepackets consisting of only positive momentum components can apparently move in the negative direction. This is usually described in terms of the backflow constant, which is a dimensionless quantity describing least upper bound on the amount of probability that can flow backwards during a given time interval. Backflow is usually calculated for wavepackets that can be written as a sum of positive momentum plane waves. Here we present a calculation of the backflow constant using the localised free particle hermite wavefunctions where equal weights of positive and negative momentum eigenfunctions occur. The resulting backflow constant is substantially smaller than the accepted value. The reasons for this are discussed and finally we draw conclusions about the calculation of backflow more generally.