Analytic results for Gaussian wave packets in four model systems: I. Visualization of the kinetic energy

Abstract

Using Gaussian wave packet solutions, we examine how the kinetic energy is distributed in time-dependent solutions of the Schrodinger equation corresponding to the cases of a free particle, a particle undergoing uniform acceleration, a particle in a harmonic oscillator potential, and a system corresponding to an unstable equilibrium. We find, for specific choices of initial parameters, that as much as 90% of the kinetic energy can be localized (at least conceptually) in the `front half' of such Gaussian wave packets, and we visualize these effects.

22 pages, RevTeX, four .eps figures, to appear in Found. Phys. Lett. Vol. 17, Dec. 2004

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