Hamiltonians Ehrenfest equations

Ehrenfest trajectory for three-dimensional D + H2 generated by the RWP method, that is, the modified Hamiltonian operator f H). Dotted curves in (b) correspond to the Ehrenfest trajectory determined by the usual Schrddinger equation. See text for further details. 

Finally, we consider in this section the force law in quantum mechanics (Ehrenfest, 1927). From Heisenberg s equation of motion employing the Schrodinger Hamiltonian we have... 

To conclude, we have seen that for a given wave function and Hamiltonian, the Ehrenfest theorem can be instrumentalized to derive explicit expressions for the density and current-density distributions by rewriting it in such a way that the continuity equation results. We will rely on this option in the relativistic framework in chapters 5, 8, and 12 to define these distributions for relativistic Hamiltonian operators and various approximations of N-particle wave functions. From the derivation, it is obvious that the definition of the current density is determined by the commutator of the Hamiltonian operator with the position operator of a particle. All terms of the Hamiltonian which depend on the momentum operator of the same particle will produce contributions to the current density. In section 5.4.3 we will encounter a case in which the momentum operator is associated with an external vector potential so that an additional term will show up in the commutator. Then, the definition of the current density has to be extended and the additional term can be attributed to an (external-field) induced current density. 

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