Derivation of the Euler Equations from Many-body Quantum Mechanics∗

The Heisenberg dynamics of the energy, momentum, and particle densities for fermions with short-range pair interactions is shown to converge to the compressible Euler equations in the hydrodynamic limit. The pressure function is given by the standard formula from quantum statistical mechanics with the two-body potential under consideration. Our derivation is based on a quantum version of the entropy method and a suitable quantum virial theorem. No intermediate description, such as a Boltzmann equation or semiclassical approximation, is used in our proof. We require some technical conditions on the dynamics, which can be considered as interesting open problems in their own right. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 82C10, 82C21, 82C40.