1999/06/30 by Michael J. W. Hall, Martina S. Reineker, Wolfgang P. Schleich · 3 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Channel (broadcasting) #Classical mechanics #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Computer science #Diffraction #Interference (communication) #Nonlinear Photonic Systems #Physics #Position (finance) #Quantum #Quantum chaos and dynamical systems #Quantum mechanics #Spacetime #Statistical physics #Wave packet #Wigner distribution function #physics.optics #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0305-4470/32/47/307
published as J.Phys.A32:8275-8291,1999 · Latex, 26 pages + 6 figures, submitted to J. Phys. A (connections with prior literature clarified)
arxiv created 1999/08/08 · openalex publication_date 1999/11/11 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
Generic channel and ridge structures are known to appear in the time-dependent position probability distribution of a one-dimensional quantum particle confined to a box. These structures are shown to have a detailed quantitative explanation in terms of a travelling-wave decomposition of the probability density, wherein each contributing term corresponds simultaneously to (i) a real wave propagating at a quantized velocity and (ii) to the time-averaged structure of the position distribution along a quantized direction in spacetime. The approach leads to new predictions of channel locations, widths and depths, and is able to provide more structural details than earlier approaches based on partial interference and Wigner functions. Results are also applicable to light diffracted by a periodic grating, and to the quantum rigid rotator.