Quantum Mechanics – Understanding Quantum Mechanics as Classical Field Theory

field-theorylagrangian-formalismquantum mechanicsschroedinger equation

Can we view the normal, non-relativistic quantum mechanics as a classical fields?

I know, that one can derive the Schrödinger equation from the Lagrangian density

$${\cal L} ~=~ \frac{i\hbar}{2} (\psi^* \dot\psi – \dot\psi^* \psi) – \frac{\hbar^2}{2m}\nabla\psi^* \cdot \nabla \psi – V({\rm r},t) \psi^*\psi$$

and the principle of least action. But I also heard, that this is not the true quantum mechanical picture as one has no probabilistic interpretation.

I hope the answer is not to obvious, but the topic is very hard to Google (as I get always results for QFT :)). So any pointers to the literature are welcome.

Best Answer

You certainly couldn't recover quantum effects with a classical treatment of that Lagrangian. If you wanted to recover quantum mechanics from the field Lagrangian you've written, you could either restrict your focus to the single particle sector of Fock space or consider a worldline treatment. To read more about the latter, look up Siegel's online QFT book "Fields" [hep-th/9912205] or Strassler's "Field Theory without Feynman Diagrams" [hep-ph/9205205] for applications of the technique.

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