Quantization of a one-dimensional system by means of the quantum Hamilton-Jacobi equation

Abstract

The numerical version of the Hamilton-Jacobi quantization method, recently proposed, is applied to the one dimensional quartic oscillator. A suitable quantization condition is formulated and various energy levels and wave functions are computed. The results very well agree with those obtained by means of the Schroedinger equation, and confirm that the Quantum Hamilton Jacobi approach, which is the exact version of the semiclassical WKB scheme, is a self-contained quantization procedure, equivalent and independent from the Schoedinger's one but more general. Indeed, with respect to this latter, the Quantum Hamilton-Jacobi equation can be used to investigate the limit h->0, where the Schroedinger equation loses its significance, and explains how the fundamental quantities of the classical mechanics, the Hamilton's characteristic function and the classical momentum, are generated from the corresponding quantum ones.