Quantum effective force in an expanding infinite square-well potential and Bohmian perspective

Abstract

The Schrödinger equation is solved for the case of a particle confined to a small region of a box with infinite walls. If the walls of the well are moved, then, due to an effective quantum nonlocal interaction with the boundary, even though the particle is nowhere near the walls, it will be affected. It is shown that this force apart from a minus sign is equal to the expectation value of the gradient of the quantum potential for vanishing at the walls boundary condition. The variation of this force with time is studied. A selection of Bohmian trajectories of the confined particle is also computed.