Weyl-Wigner-Moyal formalism for Fermi classical systems

The Weyl-Wigner-Moyal formalism of fermionic classical systems with a finite number of degrees of freedom is considered. The Weyl correspondence is studied by computing the relevant Stratonovich-Weyl quantizer. The Moyal -product, Wigner functions and normal ordering are obtained for generic fermionic systems. Finally, this formalism is used to perform the deformation quantization of the Fermi oscillator and the supersymmetric quantum mechanics.     

On Wigner functions and a damped star product in dissipative phase-space quantum mechanics

Dito and Turrubiates recently introduced an interesting model of the dissipative quantum mechanics of a damped harmonic oscillator in phase space. Its key ingredient is a non-Hermitian deformation of the Moyal star product with the damping constant as deformation parameter. We compare the Dito-Turrubiates scheme with phase-space quantum mechanics (or deformation quantization) based on other star products, and extend it to incorporate Wigner functions. The deformed (or damped) star product is related to a complex Hamiltonian, and so necessitates a modified equation of motion involving complex conjugation. We find that with this change the Wigner function satisfies the classical equation of motion. This seems appropriate since non-dissipative systems with quadratic Hamiltonians share this property.     

Classical mechanics in phase space revisited

A Bose type of classical Hamilton algebra, i.e., the algebra of the canonical formalism of classical mechanics, is represented on a linear space of functions of phase space variables. The symplectic metric of the phase space and possible algorithms of classical mechanics (which include the standard one) are derived. It is shown that to each of the classical algorithms there is a corresponding one in the phase space formulation of quantum mechanics.     

Admissible states in quantum phase space

We address the question of which phase space functionals might represent a quantum state. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for both pure and mixed phase space quantum states. From the pure state quantum condition we obtain a formula for the momentum correlations of arbitrary order and derive explicit expressions for the wave functions in terms of time-dependent and independent Wigner functions. We show that the pure state quantum condition is preserved by the Moyal (but not by the classical Liouville) time evolution and is consistent with a generic stargenvalue equation. As a by-product Baker's converse construction is generalized both to an arbitrary stargenvalue equation, associated to a generic phase space symbol, as well as to the time-dependent case. These results are properly extended to the mixed state quantum condition, which is proved to imply the Heisenberg uncertainty relations. Globally, this formalism yields the complete characterization of the kinematical structure of Wigner quantum mechanics. The previous results are then succinctly generalized for various quasi-distributions. Finally, the formalism is illustrated through the simple examples of the harmonic oscillator and the free Gaussian wave packet. As a by-product, we obtain in the former example an integral representation of the Hermite polynomials.     

Deformed squeezed states in noncommutative phase space

A deformed boson algebra is naturally introduced from studying quantum mechanics on noncommutative phase space in which both positions and momenta are noncommuting each other. Based on this algebra, corresponding intrinsic noncommutative coherent and squeezed state representations are constructed, and variances of single- and two-mode quadrature operators on these states are evaluated. The result indicates that in order to maintain Heisenberg's uncertainty relations, a restriction between the noncommutative parameters is required.     

Dynamic and Geometric Phase Formulas in the Hestenes-Dirac Theory

We examine the dynamic and geometric phases of the electron in quantum mechanics using Hestenes' spacetime algebra formalism. First the standard dynamic phase formula is translated into the spacetime algebra. We then define new formulas for the dynamic and geometric phases that can be used in Hestenes' formalism.     

Geometric algebra and star products on the phase space

Superanalysis can be deformed with a fermionic star product into a Clifford calculus that is equivalent to geometric algebra. With this multivector formalism it is then possible to formulate Riemannian geometry and an inhomogeneous generalization of exterior calculus. Moreover, it is shown here how symplectic and Poisson geometry fit in this context. The application of this formalism together with the bosonic star product formalism of deformation quantization leads then on space and space-time to a natural appearance of spin structures and on phase space to BRST structures that were found in the path integral formulation of classical mechanics. Furthermore it will be shown that Poincaré and Lie-Poisson reduction can be formulated in this formalism.     

Spacetime path formalism for massive particles of any spin

Earlier work presented spacetime path formalism for relativistic quantum mechanics arising naturally from the fundamental principles of the Born probability rule, superposition, and spacetime translation invariance. The resulting formalism can be seen as a foundation for a number of previous parametrized approaches to relativistic quantum mechanics in the literature. Because time is treated similarly to the three-space coordinates, rather than as an evolution parameter, such approaches have proved particularly useful in the study of quantum gravity and cosmology. The present paper extends the foundational spacetime path formalism to include massive, non-scalar particles of any (integer or half-integer) spin. This is done by generalizing the principle of translational invariance used in the scalar case to the principle of full Poincaré invariance, leading to a formulation for the non-scalar propagator in terms of a path integral over the Poincaré group. Once the difficulty of the non-compactness of the component Lorentz group is dealt with, the subsequent development is remarkably parallel to the scalar case. This allows the formalism to retain a clear probabilistic interpretation throughout, with a natural reduction to non-relativistic quantum mechanics closely related to the well-known generalized Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation.     

Geometric phase induced by quantum nonlocality

By analyzing an instructive example, for testing many concepts and approaches in quantum mechanics, of a one-dimensional quantum problem with moving infinite square-well, we define geometric phase of the physical system. We find that there exist three dynamical phases from the energy, the momentum and local change in spatial boundary condition respectively, which is different from the conventional computation of geometric phase. The results show that the geometric phase can fully describe the nonlocal character of quantum behavior.     

Measurements and mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics

A scheme for constructing quantum mechanics is given that does not have Hilbert space and linear operators as its basic elements. Instead, a version of algebraic approach is considered. Elements of a noncommutative algebra (observables) and functionals on this algebra (elementary states) associated with results of single measurements are used as primary components of the scheme. On the one hand, it is possible to use within the scheme the formalism of the standard (Kolmogorov) probability theory, and, on the other hand, it is possible to reproduce the mathematical formalism of standard quantum mechanics, and to study the limits of its applicability. A short outline is given of the necessary material from the theory of algebras and probability theory. It is described how the mathematical scheme of the paper agrees with the theory of quantum measurements, and avoids quantum paradoxes.     

Classical motion and coherent states for Pöschl-Teller potentials

The trigonometric and hyperbolic Pöschl-Teller potentials are dealt with from the point of view of classical and quantum mechanics. We show that there is a natural correspondence between the algebraic structure of these two approaches for both kind of potentials. Then, the coherent states are constructed and the appropriate classical variables are compared with the expected values of their corresponding quantum operators.     

Arrival time in quantum field theory

Via the proper-time eigenstates (event states) instead of the proper-mass eigenstates (particle states), free-motion time-of-arrival theory for massive spin-1/2 particles is developed at the level of quantum field theory. The approach is based on a position-momentum dual formalism. Within the framework of field quantization, the total time-of-arrival is the sum of the single event-of-arrival contributions, and contains zero-point quantum fluctuations because the clocks under consideration follow the laws of quantum mechanics.     

Formal solutions of stargenvalue equations

The formal solution of a general stargenvalue equation is presented, its properties studied and a geometrical interpretation given in terms of star-hypersurfaces in quantum phase space. Our approach deals with discrete and continuous spectra in a unified fashion and includes a systematic treatment of nondiagonal stargenfunctions. The formalism is used to obtain a complete formal solution of Wigner quantum mechanics in the Heisenberg picture and to write a general formula for the stargenfunctions of Hamiltonians quadratic in the phase space variables in arbitrary dimension. A variety of systems is then used to illustrate the former results.     

Why Do the Quantum Observables Form a Jordan Operator Algebra?

The Jordan algebra structure of the bounded real quantum observables was recognized already in the early days of quantum mechanics. While there are plausible reasons for most parts of this structure, the existence of the distributive nonassociative multiplication operation is hard to justify from a physical or statistical point of view. Considering the non-Boolean extension of classical probabilities, presented in a recent paper, it is shown in this paper that such a multiplication operation can be derived from certain properties of the conditional probabilities and the observables, i.e., from postulates with a clear statistical interpretation. The well-known close relation between Jordan operator algebras and C*-algebras then provides the connection to the quantum-mechanical Hilbert space formalism, thus resulting in a novel axiomatic approach to general quantum mechanics that includes the types II and III von Neumann algebras.     

Quantum dynamics of hydrogen atom in complex space

We show in this paper that the electron’s quantum dynamics in hydrogen atom can be modeled exactly by quantum Hamilton-Jacobi formalism. It is found that the quantizations of energy, angular momentum, and the action variable ∫p dq are all originated from the electron’s complex motion, and that the shell structure observed in hydrogen atom is indeed originated from the structure of the complex quantum potential, from which the quantum forces acting upon the electron can be uniquely determined, the stability of atomic configuration can be justified, and the electron’s complex trajectories can be derived accordingly. Based on the derived electron’s trajectory, we can explain why the electron appears at some positions with large probability, while at some other positions with small probability. The positions with maximum probability predicted by standard quantum mechanics are found to be just the stable equilibrium points of the electron’s non-linear complex dynamics. The electron’s trajectories in hydrogen atom are discovered to be very diverse and strongly state-dependent; some of them are open and non-periodic, while some are closed and periodic. Over such a great diversity of orbits, commensurability condition ensuring the existence of closed orbit will be derived and the de Broglie’s standing wave pattern will be identified. Along the investigation of the electron’s orbits in hydrogen atom, we will also clarify why old quantum mechanics using the concept of classical orbit can correctly predict the energy quantization of hydrogen atom and meanwhile why it is not applicable to general quantum system. Finally, the internal mechanism of how the precessing, non-conical eigen-trajectories can evolve continuously to the classical, non-precessing, conical orbits as n → ∞ is explained in detail.     

Extending Newton's law from nonlocal-in-time kinetic energy

We study a new equation of motion derived from a context of classical Newtonian mechanics by replacing the kinetic energy with a form of nonlocal-in-time kinetic energy. It leads to a hypothetical extension of Newton's second law of motion. In a first stage the obtainable solution form is studied by considering an unknown value for the nonlocality time extent. This is done in relation to higher-order Euler-Lagrange equations and a Hamiltonian framework. In a second stage the free particle case and harmonic oscillator case are studied and compared with quantum mechanical results. For a free particle it is shown that the solution form is a superposition of the classical straight line motion and a Fourier series. We discuss the link with quanta interpretations made in Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillators. The discrete nature emerges from the continuous time setting through application of the least action principle. The harmonic oscillator case leads to energy levels that approximately correspond to the quantum harmonic oscillator levels. The solution to the extended Newton equation also admits a quantization of the nonlocality time extent, which is determined by the classical oscillator frequency. The extended equation suggests a new possible way for understanding the relationship between classical and quantum mechanics.     

Generalized Supersymmetric Perturbation Theory

Using the basic ingredient of supersymmetry, a simple alternative approach is developed to perturbation theory in one-dimensional non-relativistic quantum mechanics. The formulae for the energy shifts and wavefunctions do not involve tedious calculations which appear in the available perturbation theories. The model applicable in the same form to both the ground state and excited bound states, unlike the recently introduced supersymmetric perturbation technique which, together with other approaches based on logarithmic perturbation theory, are involved within the more general framework of the present formalism.     

Geometric dequantization

Dequantization is a set of rules which turn quantum mechanics (QM) into classical mechanics (CM). It is not the WKB limit of QM. In this paper we show that, by extending time to a 3-dimensional “supertime,” we can dequantize the system in the sense of turning the Feynman path integral version of QM into the functional counterpart of the Koopman-von Neumann operatorial approach to CM. Somehow this procedure is the inverse of geometric quantization and we present it in three different polarizations: the Schrödinger, the momentum and the coherent states ones.