Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal approach for the quantum Vlasov equation

Abstract

Abstract The one-dimensional stationary quantum Vlasov equation is analyzed using the energy as one of the dynamical variables, similarly as in the solution of the Vlasov-Poisson system by means of the Bernstein-Greene-Kruskal method. In the semiclassical case where quantum tunneling effects are small, an infinite series solution is developed and shown to be immediately integrable up to a recursive chain of quadratures in position space only. As it stands, the treatment of the self-consistent, Wigner-Poisson system is beyond the scope of the method, which assumes a given smooth time-independent external potential. Accuracy tests for the series expansion are also provided. Examples of anharmonic potentials are worked out up to a high order on the quantum diffraction parameter.