Skip to main content
Log in

Ehrenfest's theorem reinterpreted and extended with Wigner's function

  • Part I. Invited Papers Dedicated To Henry Margenan
  • Published:
Foundations of Physics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

For a wave packet evolving quantum mechanically, the rates of change of the expectations and uncertainties of the position and momentum are exactly the same as if Wigner's function instantaneously obeyed a classical Liouville equation (whatever the Hamiltonian). This extension of Ehrenfest's theorem should be useful for dealing with the evolution and manipulation of quantum states.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. A. Messiah,Quantum Mechanics (North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1958), Secs. VI.2 and VI.3.

    Google Scholar 

  2. D. F. Styer,Am. J. Phys. 58, 742 (1990).

    Google Scholar 

  3. E. P. Wigner,Phys. Rev. 40, 749 (1932).

    Google Scholar 

  4. A. Royer,Phys. Rev. A 43, 44 (1991).

    Google Scholar 

  5. A. Royer,Phys. Rev. Lett. 55, 2745 (1985); “Squeezed states and their Wigner functions,” inThe Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Physics of Phase Space, College Park, Maryland, 1986, Y. S. Kim and W. W. Zachary, eds. (Springer, Berlin, 1987), p. 253;Phys. Rev. A 36, 2460 (1987);Found. Phys. 19, 3 (1989);Phys. Rev. A 42, 560 (1990).

    Google Scholar 

  6. S. R. de Groot and L. G. Suttorp,Foundations of Electrodynamics (North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1972), p. 341.

    Google Scholar 

  7. M. Hillery, R. F. O'Connell, M. O. Scully, and E. P. Wigner,Phys. Rep. 106, 121 (1984).

    Google Scholar 

  8. N. L. Balazs and B. K. Jennings,Phys. Rep. 104, 347 (1984).

    Google Scholar 

  9. J. E. Moyal,Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 45, 99 (1949).

    Google Scholar 

  10. R. G. Littlejohn,Phys. Rep. 138, 193 (1986).

    Google Scholar 

  11. H. Weyl,The Theory of Groups and Quantum Mechanics (Dover, New York, 1950), p. 272.

    Google Scholar 

  12. L. Cohen,J. Math. Phys. 7, 781 (1966).

    Google Scholar 

  13. K. Husimi,Proc. Phys. Math. Soc. Jpn. 22, 264 (1940).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Royer, A. Ehrenfest's theorem reinterpreted and extended with Wigner's function. Found Phys 22, 727–736 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01889675

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01889675

Keywords

Navigation