Effects of entanglement on vortex dynamics in the hydrodynamic representation of quantum mechanics

Abstract

The hydrodynamic representation of quantum mechanics describes virtual flow as if a quantum system were fluid in motion. This formulation illustrates pointlike vortices when the phase of a wavefunction becomes nonintegrable at nodal points. We study the dynamics of such pointlike vortices in the hydrodynamic representation for a two-particle wavefunction. In particular, we discuss how quantum entanglement influences vortex-vortex dynamics. For this purpose, we employ the time-dependent quantum variational principle combined with the Rayleigh-Ritz method. We analyze the vortex dynamics and establish connections with Dirac's generalized Hamiltonian formalism.

25 pages, no figures, Accepted for publication in International Journal of Quantum Information; v3 some typos fixed