Symplectic Constraints in Quantum Reaction Dynamics: Squeezed-State Suppression and Candidate Width Scales
Abstract
Classical reaction dynamics suggests transport through an index-1 saddle is organized not just by flux, but by local symplectic width scales of bounded proxy neighborhoods near the bottleneck. We investigate if a related geometric effect appears in the quantum regime for highly squeezed Gaussian wavepackets. Building on de Gosson's symplectic approach, we analyze how transverse bath-mode squeezing modifies transmission across a quantum normal-form (QNF) bottleneck. To avoid the instability of propagating states with extreme phase-space eccentricity, we use the Weyl-symbol formulation of the QNF. For the quadratic saddle-center model, we derive an exact baseline transmission formula by convolving the bath's squeezed-state number distribution with the 1D Kemble transmission factor. For anharmonic truncated QNF models, we enforce strict algebraic energy conservation and evaluate exact Gaussian expectation-value diagnostics of the Weyl symbol via Wick-Isserlis moment formulas. Results reveal a pronounced squeeze-induced suppression of transmission. As the squeezed state's bath-plane geometric scale grows relative to the classical candidate width, the expected bath action grows rapidly. Consequently, effective reactive energy is strongly depleted, driving transmission into a severely suppressed regime. We interpret this as evidence of a quantum geometric suppression mechanism consistent with the classical candidate symplectic-width picture. While not yet a rigorous quantum non-squeezing theorem, this work provides a concrete framework linking squeezed-state covariance geometry, normal-form action scales, and mode-specific quantum reactivity near an index-1 saddle.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2604.10625,
title = {Symplectic Constraints in Quantum Reaction Dynamics: Squeezed-State Suppression and Candidate Width Scales},
author = {Stephen Wiggins},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.10625},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
16 pages, 2 figures. Major revision. Title changed. Exposition reframed for quantum reaction dynamics; clarified the distinction between squeezed-state covariance/action diagnostics and symplectic capacity