From the classical Frenet-Serret apparatus to the curvature and torsion of quantum-mechanical evolutions. Part II. Nonstationary Hamiltonians

Abstract: We present a geometric perspective on how to quantify the bending and the twisting of quantum curves traced by state vectors evolving under nonstationary Hamiltonians. Specifically, relying on the existing geometric viewpoint for stationary Hamiltonians, we discuss the generalization of our theoretical construct to time-dependent quantum-mechanical scenarios where both time-varying curvature and torsion coefficients play a key role. Specifically, we present a quantum version of the Frenet-Serret apparatus for a quantum trajectory in projective Hilbert space traced out by a parallel-transported pure quantum state evolving unitarily under a time-dependent Hamiltonian specifying the Schrodinger evolution equation. The time-varying curvature coefficient is specified by the magnitude squared of the covariant derivative of the tangent vector to the state vector and measures the bending of the quantum curve. The time-varying torsion coefficient, instead, is given by the magnitude squared of the projection of the covariant derivative of the tangent vector to the state vector, orthogonal to the tangent vector and state vector and, in addition, measures the twisting of the quantum curve. We find that the time-varying setting exhibits a richer structure from a statistical standpoint. For instance, unlike the time-independent configuration, we find that the notion of generalized variance enters nontrivially in the definition of the torsion of a curve traced out by a quantum state evolving under a nonstationary Hamiltonian. To physically illustrate the significance of our construct, we apply it to an exactly soluble time-dependent two-state Rabi problem specified by a sinusoidal oscillating time-dependent potential...