Novel formulation of Hamilton-Jacobi equation for higher derivative theory and quantum mechanical correspondence

Abstract

For higher derivative theories, using the approach of Caratheodory's equivalent Lagrangian, we show that there exist novel formulations of Hamilton-Jacobi equations, which are different from the formulations derived from Hamilton's canonical approach. The quantum mechanical correspondences of these novel Hamilton-Jacobi equations lead to nonlinear quantum mechanics, which seem being able to avoid the unbounded negative energy problem in the quantum mechanics of higher derivative theories.