On quantum-classical correspondence in classical studies of atomic processes

Abstract

A general method for the construction of the optimum classical description of a physical process on the atomic scale is presented. The method is developed for physical systems whose quantum versions are obtained by canonical quantization of their classical counterparts and it is in principle applicable even in the case of `low' quantum numbers. The criterion determining the optimum description was essentially based on the comparison of the quantum and classical probability distributions in terms of the canonical coordinates. The main application of the method is in classical calculations of various quantities measured in atomic collision processes.