PHYSICAL REVIEW A 66, 024101 共2002兲

Quantization of constrained systems using the WKB approximation

Eqab M. Rabei*
Physics Department, Mutah University, Karak, Jordan

Khaled I. Nawafleh and Humam B. Ghassib

Department of Physics, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
共Received 26 December 2001; published 5 August 2002兲
A general theory for solving the Hamilton-Jacobi partial differential equations for constrained Hamiltonian
systems is proposed. The quantization of constrained systems is then applied using the WKB approximation.
The constraints become conditions on the wave function to be satisfied in the semiclassical limit.

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.66.024101 PACS number共s兲: 03.65.Sq

I. INTRODUCTION
⳵L
p a⫽ , a⫽1,2, . . . ,N⫺R, 共1兲
For a physical system whose phase space consists of 2N ⳵ q̇ a
degrees of freedom, q⫽(q 1 , . . . ,q N ); p⫽(p 1 , . . . ,p N ),
constraints appear when some relations exist between a sub- ⳵L
set of the coordinates and momenta. This means that some of p ␮⫽ , ␮ ⫽N⫺R⫹1, . . . ,N. 共2兲
⳵ q̇ ␮
the momenta are not independent. When this happens, the
Lagrangian of the system is called singular; otherwise it is
called regular 关1,2兴. One can solve Eq. 共1兲 for the velocities q̇ a as
It was Dirac 关3,4兴 who first set up a formalism for treating
singular systems and the constraints involved for the purpose q̇ a ⫽w a 共 q i ,q̇ ␮ ,p a 兲 . 共3兲
of quantizing his field, with special emphasis on the gravita-
tional field. Substituting Eq. 共3兲 in Eq. 共2兲, we get
Another powerful approach—the canonical—has been de-
veloped for investigating singular systems 关5–7兴. This hinges H ␮⬘ 共 q i ,p i 兲 ⫽ p ␮ ⫹H ␮ ⫽0, ␯ ⫽N⫺R⫹1, . . . ,N, 共4兲
on defining an equivalent Lagrangian in phase space which is
constructed by introducing generalized momenta. For singu- which are called primary constraints 关3,4兴. Here and through-
lar systems, however, these momenta are not independent, out the Brief Report, Einstein’s summation rule for repeated
because of the presence of constraints. The formulation then indices is used.
leads to a set of Hamilton-Jacobi partial differential equa- Following 关6,7兴, the corresponding set of the HJPDEs can
tions 共HJPDEs兲, and the equations of motion are written as be written as

冉 冊
total differential equations of many variables.
The construction of HJPDEs for constrained Hamiltonian ⳵S ⳵S
H ␣⬘ q ␤ ,q a ,p ␮ ⫽ ,p a ⫽ ⫽0,
systems is of prime importance. The Hamilton-Jacobi theory ⳵q␮ ⳵qa
provides a bridge between classical and quantum mechanics.
The principal interest in this theory is based on the hope that ␣ , ␤ ⫽0,N⫺R⫹1, . . . ,N, 共5兲
it might provide some guidance concerning fields. In this
Brief Report we wish to extend the Hamilton-Jacobi formu- S(t,q a ,q ␮ ) being the Hamilton-Jacobi function.
lation to constrained dynamical systems and to quantize
these systems using the WKB approximation.
III. THEORY FOR DETERMINING THE HAMILTON-
JACOBI FUNCTION

II. THE HAMILTON-JACOBI FORMULATION
We shall first review briefly the formulation of the
Hamilton-Jacobi partial differential equations for constrained
systems. The starting point is a singular Lagrangian L
⫽L(q i ,q̇ i ), i⫽1,2, . . . ,N, such that the rank of the Hessian
matrix is N⫺R, R⬍N. Hence the generalized momenta p i ,
corresponding to the generalized coordinates q i , are defined
as
Under certain conditions it is possible to separate the vari-
ables in the Hamilton-Jacobi equations; the solution can then
always be reduced to quadratures 关8,9兴. In practice, the
Hamilton-Jacobi technique becomes a useful computational
tool only when such a separation can be effected. In general,
a coordinate q i is said to be separable in the Hamilton-Jaobi
equations when Hamilton’s principal function can be split
into two additive parts, one of which depends only on the
coordinate, whereas the second is entirely independent of q i .
Thus, we can guess a general solution for Eq. 共5兲 in the form

*Email address: eqab@mutah.edu.jo S 共 q a ,q ␮ ,t 兲 ⫽ f 共 t 兲 ⫹W a 共 E a ,q a 兲 ⫹ f ␮ 共 q ␮ 兲 ⫹A, 共6兲

1050-2947/2002/66共2兲/024101共4兲/$20.00 66 024101-1 ©2002 The American Physical Society

BRIEF REPORTS PHYSICAL REVIEW A 66, 024101 共2002兲

where E a are the (N⫺R) constants of integration and A is

some other constant. Here q ␮ are treated as independent vari-
ables, just like the time t.
⫺
⳵S 1 ⳵S
⫽
⳵t 2 ⳵q 冉 冊 2
⫹V. 共11兲

Once we have found the Hamilton-Jacobi function S, the Thus, in this limit, quantum mechanics reduces to classical
equations of motion can be obtained in the manner of regular mechanics.
systems, using the so-called canonical transformations 关10兴, Next, consider the expansion S(q,t)⫽S 0 ⫹បS 1 ⫹ប 2 S 2
as follows: ⫹•••. This is the so-called ប expansion or semiclassical
expansion. Substituting it into Eq. 共10兲, we find
⳵S
␭ a⫽
⳵Ea
, 共7兲
⫺
⳵S0 1 ⳵S0
⳵t
⫽
2 ⳵q 冉 冊 2
⫹V,

冋 冉 冊冉 冊 册
⳵S
p i⫽ , 共8兲 ⳵S1 1 ⳵ 2S 0 ⳵S0 ⳵S1
⳵qi
⫺ ⫽ ⫺i ⫹2 , 共12兲
⳵t 2 ⳵q2 ⳵q ⳵q
where ␭ a are constants that can be determined from the ini-
tial conditions. and similarly for higher terms in ប. The leading equation has
Equation 共7兲 can be solved to furnish q a in terms of ␭ a , only S 0 , and it is exactly the same as the Hamilton-Jacobi
E a , q ␮ , and t: q a ⫽q a (␭ a ,E a ,q ␮ ,t), and the momenta can equation. Once one has solved these equations starting from
be determined using Eq. 共8兲: p i ⫽p i (␭ a ,E a ,q ␮ ,t). S 0 ,S 1 , . . . , one has solved, in effect, for the wave function
Two remarks are in order here. The first is that, if the ␺ in terms of a systematic expansion in ប.
Hamiltonian H ␮ does not depend on p a , the separation of The WKB approximation is used mostly for the time-
variables will be straightforward. The second is that if H ␮ independent case; in other words, for an eigenstate of energy
depends on p a and H 0 depends on q ␮ , the separation of E. Then the wave function has the ordinary time dependence
variables will not be achieved directly. In this case a suitable e ⫺iEt/ប . For one-dimensional problems, the Hamilton-Jacobi
change of variables that combine q a and q ␮ should be intro- function S takes the form S(q,t)⫽S(q)⫺Et. Therefore only
duced. Then one can redefine the Lagrangian in terms of the S 0 has the time dependence S 0 (q,t)⫽S 0 (q)⫺Et, while
new variables and restart the problem. higher-order terms do not depend on time.
The lowest term S 0 in Eq. 共12兲 satisfies the Hamilton-
IV. THE WKB APPROXIMATION Jacobi equation

It is well known that the Hamilton-Jacobi equation for

unconstrained systems leads naturally to a semiclassical ap-
proximation, namely the WKB approximation, that is very
E⫽
1 ⳵S0
2 ⳵q 冉 冊 2
⫹V. 共13兲

successful in integrable problems and, since the early days of This differential equation can be solved immediately to yield
quantum mechanics, in determining the approximate spectra
of bound-state problems for certain potentials 关11,12兴. We
shall see that this is applicable for constrained systems as
S 0 共 q 兲 ⫽⫾ 冕冑 2 关 E⫺ v共 q ⬘ 兲兴 dq ⬘ ⫽ 冕 p 共 q ⬘ 兲 dq ⬘ . 共14兲
well.
The Schrödinger equation in one dimension for a single Once we know S 0 , we can solve for S 1 . Starting from Eq.
particle in a potential V(q) reads 共12兲 and using ⳵ S 1 / ⳵ t⫽0, we find S 1 (q)⫽ (i/2) lnp(q)
⫹const.

iប
⳵ ␺ 共 q,t 兲
⳵t 冋⫽ ⫺
ប2 ⳵2
2 ⳵q2 册
⫹V 共 q 兲 ␺ 共 q,t 兲 . 共9兲
Therefore the general solution of the Schrödinger equa-
tion up to this order is

We can rewrite this

⫽exp关iS(q,t)/ប兴 关12兴:
equation by using ␺ (q,t) ␺ 共 q,t 兲 ⫽
c
冑p 共 q 兲
exp ⫾冋 冕冑 i
ប
2 关 E⫺V 共 q ⬘ 兲兴 dq ⬘ e ⫺iEt/ប ; 册
冋冉 冊 册
the overall constant c is, of course, undetermined from this
⳵S 1 ⳵S 2
iប ⳵ 2 S analysis.
⫺ ␺⫽ ⫺ ⫹V ␺ . We have so far considered the one-dimensional problem.
⳵t 2 ⳵q 2 ⳵q2
The transformation from the one-dimensional to the
N-dimensional case is achieved by expanding the wave func-
Assuming ␺ ⫽0, this leads to
tion ␺ as
⳵S 1 ⳵S
⫺ ⫽
⳵t 2 ⳵q 冉 冊 2
⫺
iប ⳵ 2 S
2 ⳵q2
⫹V. 共10兲 ␺ 共 q i ,t 兲 ⫽ 冋兿
N

i⫽1
册
␺ 0i 共 q i 兲 e iS(q i ,t)/ប , ␺ 0i 共 q i 兲 ⬅
1
冑p 共 q i 兲
.

Taking the formal limit ប→0, we obtain the classical For constrained systems, the rank of the Hessian matrix is
Hamilton-Jacobi equation N⫺R. Thus, the wave function ␺ reduces to

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␺ 共 q a ,q ␮ ,t 兲 ⫽ 冋兿
N⫺R

a⫽1
册
␺ 0a 共 q a 兲 e iS(q a ,q ␮ ,t)/ប
. 共15兲
The Hamiltonian H 0 is calculated as H 0 ⫽ 21 (p 21 ⫹p 22 )
⫺2q 1 ⫺q 2 ⫺q 3 . The corresponding set of HJPDEs 共5兲 reads

This wave function represents our main result. It satisfies the

following conditions: Ĥ ⬘0 ␺ ⫽0, Ĥ ␮⬘ ␺ ⫽0.
H 0⬘ ⫽
⳵S 1
⫹
⳵t 2 冋冉 冊 冉 冊 册
⳵S
⳵q1
2
⫹
⳵S
⳵q2
2
⫺2q 1 ⫺q 2 ⫺q 3 ⫽0,

冉 冊冉 冊冉 冊
In passing, it is interesting to use the representation
⳵S ⳵S ⳵S

冉 冊
H ⬘3 ⫽ ⫺ ⫹ ⫹q 3 ⫽0. 共18兲
iS 共 qជ ,t 兲 ⳵q3 ⳵q1 ⳵q2
␺ ⫽A 共 qជ ,t 兲 exp ,
ប
These are two coupled partial differential equations.
which is simply the so-called Madelung transformation 关13兴. To simplify the problem, let us change the vari-
Substituting back into the Schrödinger equation 共9兲, one can ables according to u⫽q 1 ⫹q 3 , v ⫽q 2 ⫺q 3 . Rewriting the
split up the resulting equation into two real equations by Hamiltonian and the HJPDEs in terms of these new variables
separating the real and imaginary parts. we have
The real part leads to the equation
1
⳵S 1 ប 2 ⵜ 2A H 0 ⫽ 共 p 2u ⫹ p 2v 兲 ⫺2u⫺ v ;
ជ S 兲 2 ⫹V⫺ 2
⫹ 共ⵜ ⫽0.
⳵ t 2m 2m A

This is the quantum Hamilton-Jacobi equation. In addition to

the kinetic energy and the classical potential V, the Hamil-
H ⬘0 ⫽ p 0 ⫹H 0 ⫽
⳵S 1
⫹
⳵t 2 冋冉 冊 冉 冊 册
⳵S
⳵u
2
⫹
⳵S
⳵v
2
⫺2u⫺ v

tonian contains another term, the well-known quantum po- ⫽0, 共19兲
tential Q:

Q 共 qជ ,t 兲 ⬅⫺
ប 2 ⵜ 2A
2m A
.
H 3⬘ ⫽ p 3 ⫹H 3 ⫽ 冉 冊
⳵S
⳵q3
⫹q 3 ⫽0.

The Hamilton-Jacobi function S 关Eq. 共6兲兴 can then be de-

For constrained systems, the quantum potential can be
termined by
treated in the same manner as for regular systems. Clearly,
setting Q⫽0, one gets back the classical Hamilton-Jacobi
S 共 u, v ,q 3 ,t 兲 ⫽ f 共 t 兲 ⫹W 1 共 u,E 1 兲 ⫹W 2 共 v ,E 2 兲 ⫹ f 3 共 q 3 兲 ⫹A.
equation. This means that the classical limit can be defined
as the case in which the quantum potential may be sup- 共20兲
pressed. Since the Hamiltonian H 0 is time independent, one can write
On the other hand, the imaginary part gives the continuity f (t)⫽⫺(E 1 ⫹E 2 )t.
equation The first equation of 共19兲 can now be written as
⳵A2
⳵t
ជ • A2
⫹ⵜ
ជS
ⵜ
m
冉 冊
⫽0. ⫺E 1 ⫺E 2 ⫹ 冋冉 冊 册冋冉 冊 册
1 ⳵W1
2 ⳵u
2
⫺2u ⫹
1 ⳵W2
2 ⳵v
2
⫺ v ⫽0.

Here A 2 (qជ ,t) is the probability density, and the expression Separation of variables in this equation leads to
inside the parentheses represents the standard definition of
the current density.
W 1 共 u,E 1 兲 ⫽ 冕冑 2 共 E 1 ⫹2u 兲 du,
V. AN ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE

Consider the following singular Lagrangian: W 2 共 v ,E 2 兲 ⫽ 冕冑 2共 E 2⫹ v 兲d v .

1
L⫽ 共 q̇ 21 ⫹q̇ 22 兲 ⫹q̇ 23 ⫹ 共 q̇ 1 ⫺q̇ 2 ⫺q 3 兲 q̇ 3 ⫹2q 1 ⫹q 2 ⫹q 3 . From the second equation of 共19兲, one finds f 3 ⫽⫺ 21 q 23 .
2
共16兲 With these results, the Hamilton-Jacobi function becomes

The corresponding generalized momenta are

S⫽⫺ 共 E 1 ⫹E 2 兲 t⫹ 冕冑 2 共 E 1 ⫹2u 兲 du
p 1 ⫽q̇ 1 ⫹q̇ 3 , p 2 ⫽q̇ 2 ⫺q̇ 3 ,

p 3 ⫽p 1 ⫺p 2 ⫺q 3 ⫽⫺H 3 . 共17兲
⫹ 冕冑 1
2 共 E 2 ⫹ v 兲 d v ⫺ q 23 ⫹A.
2
共21兲

Here the primary constraint is represented by the third equa- The solution for the generalized coordinates can be obtained
tion of 共17兲. from the transformation 关Eq. 共7兲兴

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BRIEF REPORTS PHYSICAL REVIEW A 66, 024101 共2002兲

冕冑
⳵S du Now let us apply the HJPDEs 共19兲 to the wave function
␭ 1⫽ ⫽⫺t⫹ , ␺ , after representing them as operators:
⳵E1 2 共 E 1 ⫹2u 兲

␭ 2⫽
⳵S
⳵E2
⫽⫺t⫹ 冕冑 dv
.
H ⬘0 ␺ ⫽ 冋 ប ⳵ ប2 ⳵2
⫺ ⫹ 冉
⳵2
i ⳵t 2 ⳵u2 ⳵v2
⫺2u⫺ v ␺ , 冊 册
2共 E 2⫹ v 兲

These two equations can readily be solved to give H ⬘3 ␺ ⫽ 冋 ប ⳵

i ⳵q3 册
⫹q 3 ␺ . 共25兲

E1 2
q 1 ⫽⫺q 3 ⫺ ⫹t ⫹2␭ 1 t⫹␭ 21 , After some algebra, we have
2

1 1
q 2 ⫽q 3 ⫺E 2 ⫹ t 2 ⫹␭ 2 t⫹ ␭ 22 . 共22兲
冋
H 0⬘ ␺ ⫽ ⫺ 共 E 1 ⫹E 2 兲 ⫺
5ប 2
2
关 2 共 E 1 ⫹2u 兲兴 ⫺2
2 2
1 5ប 2
The other half of the equations of motion—the momenta ⫹ 关 2 共 E 1 ⫹2u 兲兴 ⫺ 关 2 共 E 2 ⫹ v 兲兴 ⫺2
2 8
p i —can be determined using Eq. 共8兲, after substituting the
results for q 1 and q 2 . We then have

⳵S
1
⫹ 关 2 共 E 2 ⫹ v 兲兴 ⫺2u⫺ v ␺ ,
2 册 共26兲

p 1⫽ ⫽ 冑2 共 E 1 ⫹2u 兲 ⫽2t⫹2␭ 1 ,
⳵q1 H ⬘3 ␺ ⫽ 关 ⫺q 3 ⫹q 3 兴 ␺ .

⳵S Taking the limit ប→0 in Eq. 共26兲, we get H 0⬘ ␺ ⬅0, H ⬘3 ␺

p 2⫽ ⫽ 冑2 共 E 2 ⫹ v 兲 ⫽t⫹␭ 2 , 共23兲 ⬅0.
⳵q2

⳵S VI. CONCLUSION
p 3⫽ ⫽t⫺q 3 ⫹2␭ 1 ⫺␭ 2 .
⳵q3
This work has aimed at, first, shedding further light on
One gets the same results using the canonical method. constrained systems, especially on determining the
These results can also be obtained using Dirac’s approach. Hamilton-Jacobi function S; and, second, quantizing these
The wave function 共15兲 for this example can be deter- systems using the WKB approximation.
mined as The HJPDEs for constrained systems are obtained using
the canonical method 关6,7兴. In this work the Hamilton-Jacobi
␺ 共 u, v ,q 3 ,t 兲 ⫽ ␺ 0u 共 u 兲 ␺ 0 v 共 v 兲 e iS/ប , 共24兲 function S in configuration space is determined in the same
manner as for regular systems. Finding S enables us to get
where the solutions of the equations of motion. These solutions are
obtained in terms of the time and the coordinates that corre-
1 spond to dependent momenta; these are treated as indepen-
␺ 0u 共 u 兲 ⫽ ⫽ 关 2 共 E 1 ⫹2u 兲兴 ⫺1/4,
冑p u dent variables, just like the time t.
This is followed by determining a suitable wave function
1 for constrained systems. The constraints become conditions
␺ 0v共 v 兲 ⫽ ⫽ 关 2 共 E 2 ⫹ v 兲兴 ⫺1/4. on the wave function to be satisfied in the semiclassical limit,
冑p v in addition to the Schrödinger equation.

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