No abstract

It is well known that the Klein–Gordon equation in curved spacetime is conformally noninvariant, both with and without a mass term. We show that such a noninvariance provides nontrivial physical insights at different levels, first within the fully relativistic regime, then in the nonrelativistic regime leading to the Schrödinger equation, and then within the de Broglie–Bohm causal interpretation of quantum mechanics. The conformal noninvariance of the Klein–Gordon equation coupled to a vector potential is confronted with the conformal invariance of Maxwell’s equations in the presence of a charged current. The conformal invariance of the nonminimally coupled Klein–Gordon equation to gravity is then examined in light of the conformal invariance of Maxwell’s equations. Finally, the consequence of the noninvariance of the equation on the Aharonov–Bohm effect in curved space–time is discussed.

No abstract

In this paper, we take a closer and new look at the effects of tidal forces on the free fall of a quantum particle inside a spherically symmetric gravitational field. We derive the corresponding Schrödinger equation for the particle by starting from the fully relativistic Klein–Gordon equation in order (i) to briefly discuss the issue of the equivalence principle and (ii) to be able to compare the relativistic terms in the equation to the tidal-force terms. To the second order of the nonrelativistic approximation, the resulting Schrödinger equation is that of a simple harmonic oscillator in the horizontal direction and that of an inverted harmonic oscillator in the vertical direction. Two methods are used for solving the equation in the vertical direction. The first method is based on a fixed boundary condition, and yields a discrete-energy spectrum with a wavefunction that is asymptotic to that of a particle in a linear gravitational field. The second method is based on time-varying boundary conditions and yields a quantized-energy spectrum that is decaying in time. Moving on to a freely-falling reference frame, we derive the corresponding time-dependent energy spectrum. The effects of tidal forces yield an expectation value for the Hamiltonian and a relative change in time of a wavepacket’s width that are mass-independent. The equivalence principle, which we understand here as the empirical equivalence between gravitation and inertia, is discussed based on these various results. For completeness, we briefly discuss the consequences expected to be obtained for a Bose–Einstein condensate or a superfluid in free fall using the nonlinear Gross–Pitaevskii equation.

No abstract