Wigner Measure Research Articles

TWO MOMENT SYSTEMS FOR COMPUTING MULTIPHASE SEMICLASSICAL LIMITS OF THE SCHRÖDINGER EQUATION

Two systems of hyperbolic equations, arising in the multiphase semiclassical limit of the linear Schrödinger equations, are investigated. One stems from a Wigner measure analysis and uses a closure by the Delta functions, whereas the other relies on the classical WKB expansion and uses the Heaviside functions for closure. The two resulting moment systems are weakly and non-strictly hyperbolic respectively. They provide two different Eulerian methods able to reproduce superimposed signals with a finite number of phases. Analytical properties of these moment systems are investigated and compared. Efficient numerical discretizations and test-cases with increasing difficulty are presented.

Wigner measures and codimension two crossings

This article gives a semiclassical description of nucleonic propagation through codimension two crossings of electronic energy levels. Codimension two crossings are the simplest energy level crossings, which affect the Born–Oppenheimer approximation in the zeroth order term. The model we study is a two-level Schrödinger equation with a Laplacian as kinetic operator and a matrix-valued linear potential, whose eigenvalues cross, if the two nucleonic coordinates equal zero. We discuss the case of well-localized initial data and obtain a description of the wavefunction’s two-scaled Wigner measure and of the weak limit of its position density, which is valid globally in time.

Convergence of Nonlinear Schrödinger–Poisson Systems to the Compressible Euler Equations

The combined semi-classical and quasineutral limit in the bipolar defocusing nonlinear Schrödinger–Poisson system in the whole space is proven. The electron and current densities, defined by the solution of the Schrödinger–Poisson system, converge to the solution of the compressible Euler equation with nonlinear pressure. The corresponding Wigner function of the Schrödinger–Poisson system converges to a solution of a nonlinear Vlasov equation. The proof of these results is based on estimates of a modulated energy functional and on the Wigner measure method.

Semiclassical Wigner Function and Geometrical Optics

We consider the problem of high-frequency asymptotics for the time-dependent one-dimensional Schrodinger equation with rapidly oscillating initial data. This problem is commonly studied via the WKB method. An alternative method is based on the limit Wigner measure. This approach recovers geometrical optics, but, like the WKB method, it fails at caustics. To remedy this deficiency we employ the semiclassical Wigner function which is a formal asymptotic approximation of the scaled Wigner function but also a regularization of the limit Wigner measure. We obtain Airy-type asymptotics for the semiclassical Wigner function. This representation is shown to be exact in the context of concrete examples. In these examples we compute both the semiclassical and the limit Wigner function, as well as the amplitude of the wave field near a fold or a cusp caustic, which evolve naturally from suitable initial data.

SEMICLASSICAL LIMIT OF A CLASS OF SCHRÖDINGER EQUATIONS WITH POTENTIAL

ABSTRACT This note is related to the paper by J. C. Bronski and R. L. Jerrard [2] on the soliton dynamics in a potential. By using a similar argument to that carried out in [2] and some ideas of the WKB method, we give a sharper description of the asymptotic behavior of the family of solutions to the nonlinear focusing Schrödinger equation (NLS) with a potential term: with initial data where R is the ground state of the associated unscaled elliptic problem. This gives, in particular, a complete description to the dynamics of the t-dependent Wigner measure associated to the family .

Homogenization limits and Wigner transforms

We present a theory for carrying out homogenization limits for quadratic functions (called “energy densities”) of solutions of initial value problems (IVPs) with anti-self-adjoint (spatial) pseudo-differential operators (PDOs). The approach is based on the introduction of phase space Wigner (matrix) measures that are calculated by solving kinetic equations involving the spectral properties of the PDO. The weak limits of the energy densities are then obtained by taking moments of the Wigner measure. The very general theory is illustrated by typical examples like (semi)classical limits of Schrödinger equations (with or without a periodic potential), the homogenization limit of the acoustic equation in a periodic medium, and the classical limit of the Dirac equation. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Homogenization limits and Wigner transforms

We present a theory for carrying out homogenization limits for quadratic functions (called “energy densities”) of solutions of initial value problems (IVPs) with anti-self-adjoint (spatial) pseudo-differential operators (PDOs). The approach is based on the introduction of phase space Wigner (matrix) measures that are calculated by solving kinetic equations involving the spectral properties of the PDO. The weak limits of the energy densities are then obtained by taking moments of the Wigner measure. The very general theory is illustrated by typical examples like (semi)classical limits of Schrodinger equations (with or without a periodic potential), the homogenization limit of the acoustic equation in a periodic medium, and the classical limit of the Dirac equation. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Information in neutron interference experiments

Wigner measures are calculated for a number of neutron interference experiments that can be interpreted as joint nonideal measurements of path and interference. It is demonstrated that the Wigner measure need not be influenced by fluctuations, thus showing that fluctuations need not diminish the information content of the experiment. A measurement is proposed yielding complete information on the incoming neutron state.

Regularized semiclassical limits: Linear flows with infinite Lyapunov exponents

Semiclassical asymptotics for linear Schr\odinger equations with non-smooth potentials give rise to ill-posed formal semiclassical limits. These problems have attracted a lot of attention in the last few years, as a proxy for the treatment of eigenvalue crossings, i.e. general systems. It has recently been shown that the semiclassical limit for conical singularities is in fact well-posed, as long as the Wigner measure (WM) stays away from singular saddle points. In this work we develop a family of refined semiclassical estimates, and use them to derive regularized transport equations for saddle points with infinite Lyapunov exponents, extending the aforementioned recent results. In the process we answer a related question posed by P. L. Lions and T. Paul in 1993. If we consider more singular potentials, our rigorous estimates break down. To investigate whether conical saddle points, such as $-|x|$, admit a regularized transport asymptotic approximation, we employ a numerical solver based on posteriori error control. Thus rigorous upper bounds for the asymptotic error in concrete problems are generated. In particular, specific phenomena which render invalid any regularized transport for $-|x|$ are identified and quantified. In that sense our rigorous results are sharp. Finally, we use our findings to formulate a precise conjecture for the condition under which conical saddle points admit a regularized transport solution for the WM.