Wave packet dynamics and chaos in the Henon--Heiles system

Journal Article · Thu Mar 15 00:00:00 EST 1984 · J. Chem. Phys.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5195287

Feit, M D; Fleck, Jr, J A

The evolution of wave packets under the influence of a Henon--Heiles potential has been investigated by direct numerical solution of the time-dependent Schroedinger equation. Coherent state Gaussians with a variety of mean positions and momenta were selected as initial wave functions. Three types of diagnostics were used to identify chaotic behavior, namely, phase space trajectories computed from the expected values of coordinates and momenta, the correlation function P(t) = Vertical BarVertical Bar/sup 2/, and the uncertainty product or phase space volume V(t) = ..delta..x..delta..y..delta..p/sub x/..delta..p/sub y/. The three approaches lead to a consistent interpretation of the system's behavior, which tends to become more chaotic as the energy expectation value of the wave packet increases. The behavior of the corresponding classical system, however, is not a reliable guide to regular or chaotic behavior in the quantum mechanical system.

• Research Organization: University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550
• OSTI ID: 5195287
• Journal Information: J. Chem. Phys.; (United States), Vol. 80:6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
SCHROEDINGER EQUATION
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
QUANTUM MECHANICS
TIME DEPENDENCE
WAVE PACKETS
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS
MECHANICS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
WAVE EQUATIONS
657002* - Theoretical & Mathematical Physics- Classical & Quantum Mechanics