Classical formulations of quantum-mechanical time-dependent variational principles

A modification of Frenkel's time-dependent variational principle (TDVP) determines the complex phase of the wave function: the real and imaginary parts give the phase prescribed by the Schrodinger equation and the correct normalization, respectively. They are given by the hermitized and anti-hermitized components of the frequency operator. The quantum-mechanical TDVP is transcribed into a classical action principle where the hermitized and anti-hermitized components of the frequency operator are shown to be related to the velocity potential and stream function, respectively, of the complex potential method of two-dimensional hydrodynamic flow. The product of metric coefficients that appears in the Poisson brackets is the derivative of the circulation; the conservation of circulation, angular momentum, and particle number are all equivalent.