Bohm's Quantum Potential as an Internal Energy

Abstract

We pursue our discussion of Fermi's surface initiated in Dennis, de Gosson and Hiley and show that Bohm's quantum potential can be viewed as an internal energy of a quantum system. This gives further insight into the role it played by the quantum potential in stationary states. It also allows us to provide a physically motivated derivation of Schr\"odinger's equation for a particle in an external potential.