We address the time evolution of twoand three-dimensional nonrelativistic Gaussian wave packets in the presence of a weak external potential of arbitrary functional form. The focus of our study is the phenomenon of rotation of a Gaussian wave packet around its center of mass, as quantified by mean angular momentum computed relative to the wave-packet center. Using a semiclassical approximation ...

Wave packet dynamics has exposed interesting new phenomena in several fields. In femto-chemistry [1,2] we are now able to time-resolve chemical processes and also observe effects such as the breakup and revival of wave packets [3]. In atom optics wave packets are used to model matter waves [4] and electron wave packets are seen in the dynamics of Rydberg atoms [5]. The numerical modelling of wa...