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If the probability current of a normalizable wavefunction vanishes at spatial infinity, integrating the probability continuity equation over all space shows that the total probability $\int |\psi {|}^2$ is constant in time.

Writing the wavefunction in modulus and dimensionless quantum phase gives a probability continuity equation and a Hamilton-Jacobi equation with a quantum potential:The phase equations hold locally away from wavefunction nodes. They follow by equating real and imaginary parts of the Time-dependent Schrodinger equation.

In Bohmian mechanics the particle has a definite position $\mathbf{X}(t)$ at every time. Its wavefunction obeys the usual autonomous wave equation, while its actual position follows the guidance equationHere $\mathbf{j}$ is the probability current. The Born rule is the quantum-equilibrium choice of initial position distribution $\rho =|\psi {|}^2$; quantum equilibrium equivariance ensures that this distribution persists because it obeys the same probability continuity equation as the wave amplitude. The guidance equation fixes the initial velocity as well as subsequent velocities: the second-order equation below does not permit an independent arbitrary initial velocity.

Define the quantum potentialTaking the gradient of the real Madelung equations givesOn any smooth phase patch $\nabla \times \mathbf{v}=0$, so $\nabla (|\mathbf{v}{|}^2/2)=(\mathbf{v}\cdot \nabla )\mathbf{v}$. Along the actual path, differentiation is the material derivative $D/Dt={\partial }_t+\mathbf{v}\cdot \nabla$. ThereforeThis is the Bohmian mechanics Newton form: the classical force is supplemented by the amplitude-dependent quantum potential. Neither division by $R$ nor a smooth phase is justified at a wavefunction node, so the derivation applies on nonzero-amplitude regions. A nonzero circulation around a node is compatible with the locally curl-free guidance equation.

Use the dimensionless quantum phase $S$, so that $\psi =R{e}^{iS}$ with $R\ge 0$. Work locally away from wavefunction nodes, where $R$ and $S$ are differentiable. Differentiating the wavefunction for substitution in the Time-dependent Schrodinger equation gives:Cancel $e^{iS}$ in the time-dependent equation and equate real and imaginary parts. The resulting Madelung equations areThe second equation is a Hamilton-Jacobi equation for the action $\hslash S$, with an additional quantum potential. To see the meaning of the first, multiply it by $2R$ and set $\rho =R^2$. It becomes the probability continuity equationThus the probability density is transported by the velocity field $\hslash \nabla S/m$. The Madelung equations are a local rewriting of the linear wave equation; their apparent nonlinearity comes from expressing a complex wavefunction in modulus and phase variables.

For a wavefunction $\Psi (x,t)$, the probability density and probability current areMultiply the Schrodinger equation by ${\Psi }^{\ast }$, multiply its complex conjugate by $\Psi$, and subtract. The real potential energy terms cancel, leavingwhich is the probability continuity equation ${\rho }_t+j_x=0$.

For a stationary state, ${\rho }_t=0$, so $j_x=0$ and $j$ is constant in space. A normalizable wavefunction has vanishing current at spatial infinity, forcing this constant to be zero. By contrast the nonnormalizable plane wavehas stationary density $|A{|}^2$ and nonzero currentwhen $k\ne 0$.

For a one-dimensional wavefunction,The probability continuity equation isFor a stationary state $\psi (x,t)=\varphi (x)e^{-iEt/\hslash }$, the probability density is independent of time, so ${\partial }_{x}j=0$ and the probability current is constant in space.

For the plane waveone obtainsThis is a momentum eigenstate with momentum $p=\hslash k$ and, when it satisfies the free Schrodinger equation, energy $E={\hslash }^2{k}^2/(2m)$. Its constant density and current describe a spatially uniform beam carrying probability in the sign of $k$. It is not a normalizable wavefunction, so it represents an idealized state rather than a localized particle.

The one-dimensional Time-dependent Schrodinger equation for a wavefunction in a real potential isMultiplying this equation by ${\Psi }^{\ast }$, multiplying its complex conjugate by $\Psi$, and subtracting gives the probability continuity equationIf $\Psi$ and its first derivative decay sufficiently rapidly as $x\to \pm \infty$, then the probability current $j$ vanishes at both ends. Integrating the continuity equation and using the fundamental theorem of calculus yieldsThis conservation of quantum probability is required by the Born rule: once a normalizable wavefunction has total probability one, its time evolution must preserve that normalization.

For the stated Gaussian wave packet, put $\beta =\hslash t/m$. Sinceits squared modulus isThe Gaussian integral then giveswhich is independent of time, as required.

The Schrodinger equation and its complex conjugate areBecause the potential $U$ is real, its two contributions cancel when differentiating the probability density $\rho ={\psi }^{\ast }\psi$. ThereforeThe expression in square brackets is the probability current $J$, soThis probability continuity equation says that probability can leave a region only through the current across its boundary.

Both the ensemble position density transported by the guidance equation and the squared wave amplitude satisfy the same probability continuity equation. Subject to existence and uniqueness of that transport, an initial Born rule distribution stays a Born rule distribution. This is a preservation statement, not a derivation that every initial ensemble is already in equilibrium.