MULTIDIMENSIONAL WAVE-PACKET DYNAMICS WITHIN THE FLUID DYNAMICAL FORMULATION OF THE SCHRODINGER-EQUATION

This paper explores the quantum fluid dynamical (QFD) representation o f the time-dependent Schrodinger equation for the motion of a wave pac ket in a high dimensional space. A novel alternating direction techniq ue is utilized to single our each of the many dimensions in the QFD eq uations. This technique is used to solve the continuity equation for t he density and the equation for the convection of the flux for the qua ntum particle. The ability of the present scheme to efficiently and ac curately describe the dynamics of a quantum particle is demonstrated i n four dimensions where analytical results are known. We also apply th e technique to the photodissociation of NOCl and NO2 where the systems are reduced to two coordinates by freezing the angular variable at it s equilibrium value. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-96 06(98)02444-1].