Geometric analogy between quantum dynamics and curved space through quantum hydrodynamics

Abstract

Abstract In general relativity, the dynamics of objects is governed by the curvature of spacetime, which is caused by the presence of matter and energy. In contrast, in quantum mechanics, the dynamics is governed by the wavefunction, which completely describes the behavior of the particles. There is an ongoing effort to explore analogs of space and spacetime curvature in the context of quantum mechanics. Such analogies may reveal a deeper structure of quantum reality and its possible relations with Einstein’s theory of gravity. In this note, by coupling the non-relativistic Schrödinger equation with the heat equation and using the hydrodynamical formulation of quantum mechanics, we find that the dynamics of the particle is fully characterized by the normalized curvature of the wavefunction’s amplitude. Such a curvature obtains an analogy to the Ricci curvature of curved space in a Riemannian manifold. The proposed geometric correspondence provides a new pathway to explore quantum dynamics through the lens of differential geometry, the language of general relativity.