Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol.116, No.4, 1228-1238, 2002
Electronic transitions with quantum trajectories. II
The quantum trajectory method (QTM) is applied to nonadiabatic electronic transitions. Equations of motion in a Lagrangian framework are derived for the probability density, velocity, position, and action functions for a discretized wave packet moving along coupled potential energy surfaces. In solving these equations of motion. we obtain agreement with exact quantum results computed by solving the time-dependent Schrodinger equation on a space-fixed grid. On each of the coupled potential energy surfaces, the dynamics of the trajectories is fully quantum mechanical. i.e., there are no "surface-hopping transitions." We present a detailed analysis of the QTM results including density changes, complex oscillations of the wave functions, phase space analysis, and a detailed discussion of the forces that contribute to the evolution the trajectories.