Structural dualities between the Schrödinger equation and its ultra-slow-light counterpart in one spatial and one temporal dimension

Abstract Extreme kinematic limits of space-time symmetries reveal alternative forms of quantum behaviour. In the Carrollian limit the speed of light is taken to zero ( $$c \rightarrow 0$$ ): causal light cones collapse onto the time axis, spatial points become disconnected, and the usual notion of particle motion disappears. The corresponding quantum equation is the Carroll–Schrödinger equation—the structural mirror image of the ordinary Schrödinger equation, being first order in space and second order in time. We explore the mathematical connections between these two equations in one space and one time dimension. Using operator methods, we find conditions on external potentials that allow both equations to share solutions, and show that any Carrollian problem can be mapped to an equivalent Schrödinger problem via an explicit coordinate transformation. Probability densities and currents are related by removing the interaction potential and swapping space and time coordinates. An extreme relativistic boost combined with a classical approximation yields the Carrollian dispersion relation and conditions for coinciding classical trajectories. By formulating the dynamics on a Hilbert space of time rather than space, we prove that evolution in the spatial coordinate preserves probability. Closed-form solutions illustrate each result and together offer a practical framework for translating between the two descriptions.