Semiclassical expansion of quantum characteristics for many-body potential scattering problem

Abstract

In quantum mechanics, systems can be described in phase space in terms of the Wigner function and the star-product operation. Quantum characteristics, which appear in the Heisenberg picture as the Weyl's symbols of operators of canonical coordinates and momenta, can be used to solve the evolution equations for symbols of other operators acting in the Hilbert space. To any fixed order in the Planck's constant, many-body potential scattering problem simplifies to a statistical-mechanical problem of computing an ensemble of quantum characteristics and their derivatives with respect to the initial canonical coordinates and momenta. The reduction to a system of ordinary differential equations pertains rigorously at any fixed order in $\hbar$. We present semiclassical expansion of quantum characteristics for many-body scattering problem and provide tools for calculation of average values of time-dependent physical observables and cross sections. The method of quantum characteristics admits the consistent incorporation of specific quantum effects, such as non-locality and coherence in propagation of particles, into the semiclassical transport models. We formulate the principle of stationary action for quantum Hamilton's equations and give quantum-mechanical extensions of the Liouville theorem on the conservation of phase-space volume and the Poincaré theorem on the conservation of $2p$ forms. The lowest order quantum corrections to the Kepler periodic orbits are constructed. These corrections show the resonance behavior.