Noether equations and conservation laws

The purpose of the paper is to present a rigorous derivation of the relation between conservation laws and transformations leaving invariant the action integral. The (space-)time development of a physical system is represented by a cross section of a product bundleM. A Lagrange function is defined as a mapping where is the bundle space of the first jet extension ofM. A symmetry transformation is defined as a bundle automorphism ofM, carrying solutions of the Euler-Lagrange equation into solutions of the same equation. An important class of symmetry transformations is that of generalized invariant transformations: they are defined by specifying their action on the Euler-Lagrange equation. The generators of generalized invariant transformations are solutions of a system of linear, homogeneous partial differential equation (Noether equations). The set of all solutions of these equations has a natural structure of Lie algebra. In a simple manner, the Noether equations give rise to differential conservation laws.Supported by Air Force Office of Scientifie Research and Aeronautical Research Laboratories.On leave of absence from the Institute of Theoretical Physics, Warsaw University, Warsaw, Poland.     

Canonical quantization

The dynamical variables of a classical system form a Lie algebra , where the Lie multiplication is given by the Poisson bracket. Following the ideas ofSouriau andSegal, but with some modifications, we show that it is possible to realize as a concrete algebra of smooth transformations of the functionals on the manifold of smooth solutions to the classical equations of motion. It is even possible to do this in such a way that the action of a chosen dynamical variable, say the Hamiltonian, is given by the classical motion on the manifold, so that the quantum and classical motions coincide. In this realization, constant functionals are realized by multiples of the identity operator. For a finite number of degrees of freedom,n, the space of functionals can be made into a Hilbert space using the invariant Liouville volume element; the dynamical variablesF become operators in this space. We prove that for any hamiltonianH quadratic in the canonical variablesq ₁...q _n ,p ₁...p _n there exists a subspace ₁ which is invariant under the action of and , and such that the restriction of to ₁ form an irreducible set of operators. Therefore,Souriau's quantization rule agrees with the usual one for quadratic hamiltonians. In fact, it gives the Bargmann-Segal holomorphic function realization. For non-linear problems in general, however, the operators form a reducible set on any subspace of invariant under the action of the Hamiltonian. In particular this happens for . Therefore,Souriau's rule cannot agree with the usual quantization procedure for general non-linear systems.The method can be applied to the quantization of a non-linear wave equation and differs from the usual attempts in that (1) at any fixed time the field and its conjugate momentum may form a reducible set (2) the theory is less singular than usual.For a particular wave equation , we show heuristically that the interacting field may be defined as a first order differential operator acting onc -functions on the manifold of solutions. In order to make this space into a Hilbert space, one must define a suitable method of functional integration on the manifold; this problem is discussed, without, however, arriving at a satisfactory conclusion.On leave from Physics Department, Imperial College, London SW7.Work partly supported by the Office of Scientific Research, U.S. Air Force.     

Quantum action principle in curved space

Schwinger's action principle is formulated for the quantum system which corresponds to the classical system described by the LagrangianL _c( , x)=(M/2)g_ij(x) ^{i j}–v(x). It is sufficient for the purpose of deriving the laws of quantum mechanics to consider onlyc-number variations of coordinates and time. The Euler-Lagrange equation, the canonical commutation relations, and the canonical equations of motion are derived from this principle in a consistent manner. Further, it is shown that an arbitrary point transformation leaves the forms of the fundamental equations invariant. The judicious choice of the quantal Lagrangian is essential in our formulation. A quantum mechanical analog of Noether's theorem, which relates the invariance of the quantal action with a conservation law, is established. The ambiguities in the quantal Lagrangian are also discussed and it is pointed out that the requirement of invariance is not sufficient to determine uniquely the quantal Lagrangian and the Hamiltonian.     

Quantum conformal superspace

For a compact connected orientablen-manifoldM, n 3, we study the structure ofclassical superspace ,quantum superspace ,classical conformal superspace , andquantum conformal superspace . The study of the structure of these spaces is motivated by questions involving reduction of the usual canonical Hamiltonian formulation of general relativity to a non-degenerate Hamiltonian formulation, and to questions involving the quantization of the gravitational field. We show that if the degree of symmetry ofM is zero, thenS,S ₀,C, andC ₀ areilh orbifolds. The case of most importance for general relativity is dimensionn=3. In this case, assuming that the extended Poincaré conjecture is true, we show that quantum superspaceS ₀ and quantum conformal superspaceC ₀ are in factilh-manifolds. If, moreover,M is a Haken manifold, then quantum superspace and quantum conformal superspace arecontractible ilh-manifolds. In this case, there are no Gribov ambiguities for the configuration spacesS ₀ andC ₀. Our results are applicable to questions involving the problem of thereduction of Einstein's vacuum equations and to problems involving quantization of the gravitational field. For the problem of reduction, one searches for a way to reduce the canonical Hamiltonian formulation together with its constraint equations to an unconstrained Hamiltonian system on a reduced phase space. For the problem of quantum gravity, the spaceC ₀ will play a natural role in any quantization procedure based on the use of conformal methods and the reduced Hamiltonian formulation.     

C*-algebras and Mackey's axioms

A non-commutative version of probability theory is outlined, based on the concept of a*-algebra of operators (sequentially weakly closedC*-algebra of operators). Using the theory of*-algebras, we relate theC*-algebra approach to quantum mechanics as developed byKadison with the probabilistic approach to quantum mechanics as axiomatized byMackey. The*-algebra approach to quantum mechanics includes the case of classical statistical mechanics; this important case is excluded by theW*-algebra approach. By considering the*-algebra, rather than the von Neumann algebra, generated by the givenC*-algebraA in its reduced atomic representation, we show that a difficulty encountered byGuenin concerning the domain of a state can be resolved.     

Quantum cohomology of partial flag manifoldsF_{n_1 } \ldots _{n_k }

We compute the quantum cohomology rings of the partial flag manifolds . The inductive computation uses the idea of Givental and Kim [1]. Also we define a notion of the vertical quantum cohomology ring of the algebraic bundle. For the flag bundle (E) associated with the vector bundleE this ring is found.     

An analytic representation of quantum field theory

The connection between a space of quadratically integrable functions of real variablesq and a Hilbert space of analytic functions of complex variablesz established byBargmann is used to introduce quantised field operators for which the -functions of the commutation relations inq-space are replaced by analytic kernel functions inz-space, and a reference to distributions can be avoided.Bargmann's representation is first somewhat modified, so that the derivative terms in the field equations retain their form in the new representation. Local interaction terms inq-space obtain a non-local appearance inz-space. The transition to a 4-dimensional formulation inz-space has to resort to a Euclidean metric. The equations can be derived directly by starting from an action integral inz-space, and applying a variational calculus in which variations are restricted to analytic functions. Explicit analytic expressions are given for free field propagators.     

The spectral problem for theq-Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equation and continuousq-Jacobi polynomials

The spectral problem for theq-Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equations for at arbitrary non-negative levelk is considered. The case of two-point functions in the fundamental representation is studied in detail. The scattering states are given explicitly in terms of continuousq-Jacobi polynomials, and theS-matrix is derived from their asymptotic behavior. The level zeroS-matrix is closely connected with the kink-antikinkS-matrix for the spin- XXZ antiferromagnet. An interpretation of the latter in terms of scattering on (quantum) symmetric spaces is discussed. In the limit of infinite level we observe connections with harmonic analysis onp-adic groups with the primep given byp=q ^–2.Work supported in part by the NSF: PHY-91-23780     

Z−Z′ mixing and oblique corrections in anSU(3)×U(1) model

We address the effects of the new physics predicted by theSU(3) _l ×U(1) _X model on the precision electroweak measurements. We consider bothZ–Z mixing and one-loop oblique corrections, using a combination of neutral gauge boson mixing parameters and the parametersS andT. At tree level, we obtain strong limits on theZ–Z mixing angle, –0.0006<0.0042 and="> 490$$ " align="middle" border="0"> GeV (both at 90% C.L.). The radiative corrections lead toT>0 if the new Higgs are heavy, which bounds the Higgs masses to be less than a few TeV.S can have either sign depending on the Higgs mass spectrum. Future experiments may soon place strong restrictions on this model, thus making it eminently testable.     

Affine connection structure of the charged symplectic 2-form

It is shown that the charged symplectic form in Hamiltonian dynamics of classical charged particles in electromagnetic fields defines a generalized affine connection on an affine frame bundle associated with spacetime. Conversely, a generalized affine connection can be used to construct a symplectic 2-form if the associated linear connection is torsion-free and the antisymmetric part of theR ^4* translational connection is locally derivable from a potential. Hamiltonian dynamics for classical charged particles in combined gravitational and electromagnetic fields can therefore be reformulated as aP(4)=O(1, 3)R ^4* geometric theory with phase space the affine cotangent bundleAT ^* M of spacetime. The sourcefree Maxwell equations are reformulated as a pair of geometrical conditions on the ^4* curvature that are exactly analogous to the source-free Einstein equations.     

Invariant connections and vortices

We study the vortex equations on a line bundle over a compact Kähler manifold. These are a generalization of the classical vortex equations over ². We first prove an invariant version of the theorem of Donaldson, Uhlenbeck and Yau relating the existence of a Hermitian-Yang-Mills metric on a holomorphic bundle to the stability of such a bundle. We then show that the vortex equations are a dimensional reduction of the Hermitian-Yang-Mills equation. Using this fact and the theorem above we give a new existence proof for the vortex equations and describe the moduli space of solutions.     

Nonlinear gauge theory of Poincaré gravity

A Poincaré affine frame bundle (M) and its associated bundleÊ are established. Using the connection theory of fiber bundles, nonlinear connections on the bundleÊ are introduced as nonlinear gauge fields. An action and two sets of gauge field equations are presented.     

On the spin of Solitons in 2+1 dimensional models

It is believed that the charged vortex in the Chern-Simons-Higgs model can have fractional spin, since the extra angular momentum of the static vortex calculated from the classical energy-momentum tensor is nonzero. We re-examine the spin of the charged vortex by use of quantum mechanical method, by which the baby skyrmion in theO(3) nonlinear -model with the Hopf term is pointed out to have fractional spin. It is shown that the spin of the charged vortex obtained from the quantum mechanical argument does not necessarily coincide with the value of classical extra angular momentum. Moreover, it is found that its value is not unique, since it is one of quantities which depend on the gauge condition of the Chern-Simons gauge field.     

The form of representations of the canonical commutation relations for Bose fields and connection with finitely many degrees of freedom

Given a representation of the canonical commutation relations (CCR) for Bose fields in a separable (or, under an additional assumption, nonseparable) Hilbert space it is shown that there exists a decreasing sequence of finite and quasi-invariant measures _n on the space of all linear functionals on the test function space, such that can be realized as the direct sum of the , the space of all _n -square-integrable functions on. In this realizationU(f) becomes multiplication by. The action ofV(g) is similar as in the case of cyclicU(f) which has been treated byAraki andGelfand. But different can be mixed now. Simply transcribing the results in terms of direct integrals one obtains a form of the representations which turns out to be essentially the direct integral form ofLew. All results are independent of the dimensionality of and hold in particular for dim. Thus one has obtained a form of the CCR which is the same for a finite and an infinite number of degrees of freedom. From this form it is in no way obvious why there is such a great distinction between the finite and infinite case. In order to explore this question we derive von Neumanns theorem about the uniqueness of the Schrödinger operators in a constructive way from this dimensionally independent form and show explicitly at which point the same procedure fails for the infinite case.Part of this paper is contained in Section IV of theHabilitationsschrift Aspekte der kanonischen Vertauschungsrelationen für Quantenfelder byG. C. Hegerfeldt, University of Marburg 1968.     

Boundary terms for massless fermionic fields

Local supersymmetry leads to boundary conditions for fermionic fields in one-loop quantum cosmology involving the Euclidean normal _e n _A/A to the boundary and a pair of independent spinor fields ^A and . This paper studies the corresponding classical properties, i.e., the classical boundary-value problem and boundary terms in the variational problem. If is set to zero on a 3-sphere bounding flat Euclidean 4-space, the modes of the massless spin–1/2 field multiplying harmonics having positive eigenvalues for the intrinsic 3-dimensional Dirac operator onS ³ should vanish onS ³. Remarkably, this coincides with the property of the classical boundary-value problem when spectral boundary conditions are imposed onS ³ in the massless case. Moreover, the boundary term in the action functional is proportional to the integral on the boundary of ^A _e n _AA ^A .     

Absence of symmetry breaking for systems of rotors with random interactions

We prove that Gibbs states for the Hamiltonian , with thes _x varying on theN-dimensional unit sphere, obtained with nonrandom boundary conditions (in a suitable sense), are almost surely rotationally invariant if withJ _xy i.i.d. bounded random variables with zero average, 1 in one dimension, and 2 in two dimensions.     

Interfaces for Random Cluster Models

A random cluster measure on that is not translationally invariant is constructed for d3, the critical density p _c , and sufficiently large q. The resulting measure is proven to be a Gibbs state satisfying cluster model DLR- equations.     

The Variational Principle and Effective Action for a Spherical Dust Shell

The variational principle for a spherical configuration consisting of a thin spherical dust shell in a gravitational field is constructed. The principle is consistent with the boundary-value problem of the corresponding Euler-Lagrange equations, and leads to natural boundary conditions. These conditions and the field equations following from the variational principle are used for performing of the reduction of this system. The equations of motion for the shell follow from the obtained reduced action. The transformation of the variational formula for the reduced action leads to two natural variants of the effective action. One of them describes the shell from a stationary interior observer's point of view, another from the exterior one. The conditions of isometry of the exterior and interior faces of the shell lead to the momentum and Hamiltonian constraints.     

Diffusion in a symmetric bistable potential: A variational approach

An approximation procedure for the solution of stochastic nonlinear equations, which was derived from a variational principle in a previous paper, is applied to the problem of a particle that diffuses in a symmetric bistable potential starting from the point of unstable equilibrium. The second moment and variance for the particle's position are calculated as functions of the timet. Good agreement is found with results recently obtained by Baibuzet al. from an approximate evaluation of a path integral expression for the probability density.     

C*-Algèbres des systèmes canoniques. I

The twisted convolution associated with the Weyl form of the canonical commutation relations forn degrees of freedom is decribed using ordinary convolution on a nilpotent central extension of additive phase space by the one-dimensional torus. Twisted convolution determines severalC*-algebras of quantum mechanical observables amongst which we study especially the algebra ₂( , ) consisting of the ₂-functions on phase space and mapped isometrically onto the Hilbert-Schmidt-operators by the Schrödinger representation. The two last sections of the paper deal with phase space quantum mechanics from the point of view of twisted convolution: theWigner-Moyal formalism and the entire function formalism ofBargmann andSegal.