Generalized Equations in Quantum Mechanics and Brownian Theory

We discuss formal analogies between a nonlinear Schrödinger equation derived by the author from the theory of scale relativity and the equations of Brownian theory. By using the Madelung transformation, the nonlinear Schrödinger equation takes the form of hydrodynamic equations involving a friction force, an effective thermal pressure, a pressure due to the self-interaction, and a quantum potential. These hydrodynamic equations have a form similar to the damped Euler equations obtained for self-interacting Brownian particles in the theory of simple liquids. In that case, the temperature is due to thermal motion and the pressure arises from spatial correlations between the particles. More generally, the correlations can be accounted for by using the dynamical density functional theory. We determine the excess free energy of Brownian particles that reproduces the standard quantum potential. We then consider a more general form of excess free energy functionals and propose a new class of generalized Schrödinger equations. For a certain form of excess free energy, we recover the generalized Schrödinger equation associated with the Tsallis entropy considered in a previous paper.