Deformation quantization, superintegrability and Nambu mechanics

Phase Space is the framework best suited for quantizing superintegrable systems—systems with more conserved quantities than degrees of freedom. In this quantization method, the symmetry algebras of the hamiltonian invariants are preserved most naturally. We illustrate the power and simplicity of the method through new applications to nonlinear σ-models, specifically for Chiral Models and de Sitter N-spheres, where the symmetric quantum hamiltonians amount to compact and elegant expressions, in accord with the Groenewold-van Hove theorem. Additional power and elegance is provided by the use of Nambu Brackets (linked to Dirac Brackets) involving the extra invariants of superintegrable models. The quantization of Nambu Brackets is then successfully compared to that of Moyal, validating Nambu’s original proposal, while invalidating other proposals.     

Deformation quantization and Nambu Mechanics

Starting from deformation quantization (star-products), the quantization problem of Nambu Mechanics is investigated. After considering some impossibilities and pushing some analogies with field quantization, a solution to the quantization problem is presented in the novel approach of Zariski quantization of fields (observables, functions, in this case polynomials). This quantization is based on the factorization over ℝ of polynomials in several real variables. We quantize the infinite-dimensional algebra of fields generated by the polynomials by defining a deformation of this algebra which is Abelian, associative and distributive. This procedure is then adapted to derivatives (needed for the Nambu brackets), which ensures the validity of the Fundamental Identity of Nambu Mechanics also at the quantum level. Our construction is in fact more general than the particular case considered here: it can be utilized for quite general defining identities and for much more general star-products. Supported by the European Commission and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. NSF grant DMS-95-00557 This article was processed by the author using the L^AT_EX style filepljour1 from Springer-Verlag.     

BRST analysis of general mechanical systems

We study the groups of local BRST cohomology associated to the general systems of ordinary differential equations, not necessarily Lagrangian or Hamiltonian. Starting with the involutive normal form of the equations, we explicitly compute certain cohomology groups having clear physical meaning. These include the groups of global symmetries, conservation laws and Lagrange structures. It is shown that the space of integrable Lagrange structures is naturally isomorphic to the space of weak Poisson brackets. The last fact allows one to establish a direct link between the path-integral quantization of general not necessarily variational dynamics by means of Lagrange structures and the deformation quantization of weak Poisson brackets.     

The electron field and the Dirac bracket

A recent quantization rule of Fermi systems starts from the new symmetric brackets of classical mechanics. As a consequence, Fermi and Bose quantization can be put on an equal footing, instead of the standardad hoc procedure. We prove that the rule gives the right anticommutation relations when applied to the case of the relativistic electron. We show that this is a crucial test of the rule.For completeness, Dirac's Hamiltonian mechanics and the plus and minus Dirac bracket formalisms are developed for the electron's field.     

First Integrals,Liouville Theorem,and Dirac Brackets

In this paper, we discuss the conditions for the existence of first integrals of movement and the Liouville theorem on integrable systems. We revise the core results of the Hamilton-Jacobi theory and discuss the extension of the formalism to encompass constrained systems using Dirac brackets, originally developed in the context of the canonical quantization of constrained systems. As an application, we analyze a Hamiltonian that represents the classical limit of a Fermionic system of oscillators.     

Hamiltonian Formulation and Action Principle for the Lorentz-Dirac System

The possibility of constructing a Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulation is examined for a radiating point-like charge usually described by the classical Lorentz-Dirac equation. It turns out that the latter equation cannot be obtained from the variational principle, and, furthermore, has nonphysical solutions. It is proposed to consider a physically equivalent set of reduced equations which admit a Hamiltonian formulation with non-canonical Poisson brackets. As an example, the effective dynamics of a non-relativistic particle moving in a homogeneous magnetic field is considered. The proposed Hamiltonian formulation may be considered as a first step to a consistent quantization of the Lorentz-Dirac system.     

Weakly nonlinear dynamics in noncanonical Hamiltonian systems with applications to fluids and plasmas

A method, called beatification, is presented for rapidly extracting weakly nonlinear Hamiltonian systems that describe the dynamics near equilibria of systems possessing Hamiltonian form in terms of noncanonical Poisson brackets. The procedure applies to systems like fluids and plasmas in terms of Eulerian variables that have such noncanonical Poisson brackets, i.e., brackets with nonstandard and possibly degenerate form. A collection of examples of both finite and infinite dimensions is presented.     

Algebraic construction of a Nambu bracket for the two-dimensional vorticity equation

So far fluid mechanical Nambu brackets have mainly been given on an intuitive basis. Alternatively an algorithmic construction of such a bracket for the two-dimensional vorticity equation is presented here. Starting from the Lie-Poisson form and its algebraic properties it is shown how the Nambu representation can be explicitly constructed as the continuum limit from the structure preserving Zeitlin discretization.     

Incomplete Dirac reduction of constrained Hamiltonian systems

First-class constraints constitute a potential obstacle to the computation of a Poisson bracket in Dirac’s theory of constrained Hamiltonian systems. Using the pseudoinverse instead of the inverse of the matrix defined by the Poisson brackets between the constraints, we show that a Dirac–Poisson bracket can be constructed, even if it corresponds to an incomplete reduction of the original Hamiltonian system. The uniqueness of Dirac brackets is discussed. The relevance of this procedure for infinite dimensional Hamiltonian systems is exemplified.     

Algebraic construction of a Nambu bracket for the two-dimensional vorticity equation

So far fluid mechanical Nambu brackets have mainly been given on an intuitive basis. Alternatively an algorithmic construction of such a bracket for the two-dimensional vorticity equation is presented here. Starting from the Lie-Poisson form and its algebraic properties it is shown how the Nambu representation can be explicitly constructed as the continuum limit from the structure preserving Zeitlin discretization.     

Aspects of classical and quantum Nambu mechanics

We present recent developments in the theory of Nambu mechanics, which include new examples of Nambu-Poisson manifolds with linear Nambu brackets and new representations of Nambu-Heisenberg commutation relations.     

Unambiguous Quantization from the Maximum Classical Correspondence that Is Self-consistent: The Slightly Stronger Canonical Commutation Rule Dirac Missed

Dirac’s identification of the quantum analog of the Poisson bracket with the commutator is reviewed, as is the threat of self-inconsistent overdetermination of the quantization of classical dynamical variables which drove him to restrict the assumption of correspondence between quantum and classical Poisson brackets to embrace only the Cartesian components of the phase space vector. Dirac’s canonical commutation rule fails to determine the order of noncommuting factors within quantized classical dynamical variables, but does imply the quantum/classical correspondence of Poisson brackets between any linear function of phase space and the sum of an arbitrary function of only configuration space with one of only momentum space. Since every linear function of phase space is itself such a sum, it is worth checking whether the assumption of quantum/classical correspondence of Poisson brackets for all such sums is still self-consistent. Not only is that so, but this slightly stronger canonical commutation rule also unambiguously determines the order of noncommuting factors within quantized dynamical variables in accord with the 1925 Born-Jordan quantization surmise, thus replicating the results of the Hamiltonian path integral, a fact first realized by E.H. Kerner. Born-Jordan quantization validates the generalized Ehrenfest theorem, but has no inverse, which disallows the disturbing features of the poorly physically motivated invertible Weyl quantization, i.e., its unique deterministic classical “shadow world” which can manifest negative densities in phase space.     

Nambu Mechanics in the Lagrangian Formalism

A Lagrangian formulation is presented as the counterpart of the Hamiltonian onefor Nambu mechanics which is a natural generalization of Hamiltonian mechanics.If we postulate the existence of plural Lagrangians corresponding to the existenceof plural Hamiltonians, we can formulate the Lagrangian formalism in Nambumechanics as well as in Hamiltonian mechanics. Here, in terms of exteriordifferentiation, Nambu mechanics can be formulated in a completely parallel wayto ordinary analytical mechanics, including generalized Legendre transformations.     

Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms for relativistic dynamics of a charged particle with dipole moment

The Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations for the relativistic classical dynamics of a charged particle with dipole moment in the presence of an electromagnetic field are given. The differential conservation laws for the energy-momentum and angular momentum tensors of a field and particle are discussed. The Poisson brackets for basic dynamic variables, which form a closed algebra, are found. These Poisson brackets enable us to perform the canonical quantization of the Hamiltonian equations that leads to the Dirac wave equation in the case of spin 1/2. It is also shown that the classical limit of the squared Dirac equation results in equations of motion for a charged particle with dipole moment obtained from the Lagrangian formulation. The inclusion of gravitational field and non-Abelian gauge fields into the proposed formalism is discussed.Received: 4 June 2005, Published online: 27 July 2005     

Generalized Hitchin Systems and the Knizhnik–zamolodchikov–bernard Equation on Ellipic Curves

The Knizhnik–Zamolodchikov–Bernard (KZB) equation on an elliptic curve with a marked point is derived by classical Hamiltonian reduction and further quantization. We consider classical Hamiltonian systems on a cotangent bundle to the loop group L(GL(N, C)) extended by the shift operators, to be related to the elliptic module. After reduction, we obtain a Hamiltonian system on a cotangent bundle to the moduli of holomorphic principle bundles and an elliptic module. It is a particular example of generalized Hitchin systems (GHS) which are defined as Hamiltonian systems on cotangent bundles to the moduli of holomorphic bundles and to the moduli of curves. They are extensions of the Hitchin systems by the inclusion the moduli of curves. In contrast with the Hitchin systems, the algebra of integrals are noncommutative on GHS. We discuss the quantization procedure in our example. The quantization of the quadratic integral leads to the KZB equation. We present an explicit form of higher quantum Hitchin integrals which, upon reducing from GHS phase space to the Hitchin phase space, gives a particular example of the Beilinson–Drinfeld commutative algebra of differential operators on the moduli of holomorphic bundles.     

The improved quantization rule and the Langer modification

An improved quantization rule is used to obtain a generalized formulation of Langer modification. The relations between the improved quantization rule and the Langer modification are studied. Two typical quantum systems, hydrogen atom and harmonic oscillator, are studied to show the relations between them.     

De Donder-Weyl theory and a hypercomplex extension of quantum mechanics to field theory

A quantization of field theory based on the De Donder-Weyl (DW) covariant Hamiltonian formulation is discussed. A hypercomplex extension of quantum mechanics, in which the space-time Clifford algebra replaces that of the complex numbers, appears as a result of quantization of Poisson brackets on differential forms which were put forward for the DW theory earlier. The proposed covariant hypercomplex Schrödinger equation is shown to lead in the classical limit to the DW Hamilton-Jacobi equation and to obey the Ehrenfest principle in the sense that the DW canonical field equations are satisfied for expectation values of properly chosen operators.     

Quantization of Coset Space σ-Models Coupled to Two-Dimensional Gravity

The mathematical framework for an exact quantization of the two-dimensio‐nal coset space σ-models coupled to dilaton gravity, that arise from dimensional reduction of gravity and supergravity theories, is presented. Extending previous results [49] the two-time Hamiltonian formulation is obtained, which describes the complete phase space of the model in the isomonodromic sector. The Dirac brackets arising from the coset constraints are calculated. Their quantization allows to relate exact solutions of the corresponding Wheeler–DeWitt equations to solutions of a modified (Coset-)Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov system. Received: 25 July 1996 / Accepted: 23 April 1997     

Quantization of soluble classical constrained systems

The derivation of the brackets among coordinates and momenta for classical constrained systems is a necessary step toward their quantization. Here we present a new approach for the determination of the classical brackets which does neither require Dirac’s formalism nor the symplectic method of Faddeev and Jackiw. This approach is based on the computation of the brackets between the constants of integration of the exact solutions of the equations of motion. From them all brackets of the dynamical variables of the system can be deduced in a straightforward way.