Covariant canonical quantization

We present a manifestly covariant quantization procedure based on the de Donder–Weyl Hamiltonian formulation of classical field theory. This procedure agrees with conventional canonical quantization only if the parameter space is d=1 dimensional time. In d>1 quantization requires a fundamental length scale, and any bosonic field generates a spinorial wave function, leading to the purely quantum-theoretical emergence of spinors as a byproduct. We provide a probabilistic interpretation of the wave functions for the fields, and we apply the formalism to a number of simple examples. These show that covariant canonical quantization produces both the Klein–Gordon and the Dirac equation, while also predicting the existence of discrete towers of identically charged fermions with different masses. Covariant canonical quantization can thus be understood as a “first” or pre-quantization within the framework of conventional QFT. PACS 04.62.+v; 11.10.Ef; 12.10.Kt     

Covariant canonical quantization of fields and Bohmian mechanics

We propose a manifestly covariant canonical method of field quantization based on the classical De Donder-Weyl covariant canonical formulation of field theory. Owing to covariance, the space and time arguments of fields are treated on an equal footing. To achieve both covariance and consistency with standard non-covariant canonical quantization of fields in Minkowski spacetime, it is necessary to adopt a covariant Bohmian formulation of quantum field theory. A preferred foliation of spacetime emerges dynamically owing to a purely quantum effect. The application to a simple time-reparametrization invariant system and quantum gravity is discussed and compared with the conventional non-covariant Wheeler-DeWitt approach.Received: 11 October 2004, Published online: 6 July 2005PACS: 04.20.Fy, 04.60.Ds, 04.60.Gw, 04.60.-m     

Covariant quantum description of the N = 2 Brink-Schwarz superparticle

The covariant quantum effective action for the N = 2 Brink-Schwarz superparticle is constructed starting from the canonical formulation in the light-cone gauge. BRST quantization is discussed.     

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.     

Relativistic Hamiltonian dynamics

A manifestly covariant relativistic hamiltonian dynamics is presented for a closed system of N particles in mutual interaction. The “no-interaction theorem” is overcome by use of relativistic center-of-mass variables instead of individual particle variables. The theory permits canonical quantization.     

Canonical transformations and gauge fixing in the triplectic quantization

We show that the generators of canonical transformations in the triplectic manifold must satisfy constraints that have no parallel in the usual field antifield quantization. A general form for these transformations is presented. Then we consider gauge fixing by means of canonical transformations in this Sp(2) covariant scheme, finding a relation between generators and gauge fixing functions. The existence of a wide class of solutions to this relation nicely reflects the large freedom of the gauge fixing process in the triplectic quantization. Some solutions for the generators are discussed. Our results are then illustrated by the example of Yang-Mills theory.     

Combinatorial Space from Loop Quantum Gravity

The canonical quantization of diffeomorphism invariant theories of connections in terms of loop variables is revisited. Such theories include general relativity described in terms of Ashtekar-Barbero variables and extension to Yang-Mills fields (with or without fermions) coupled to gravity. It is argued that the operators induced by classical diffeomorphism invariant or covariant functions are respectively invariant or covariant under a suitable completion of the diffeomorphism group. The canonical quantization in terms of loop variables described here, yields a representation of the algebra of observables in a separable Hilbert space. Furthermore, the resulting quantum theory is equivalent to a model for diffeomorphism invariant gauge theories which replaces space with a manifestly combinatorial object.     

The QCD Hamiltonian and nonlinear quantum mechanics

We study the canonical quantization of SU(N) gauge theory in linear, noncovariant gauges. The canonical formalism is first discussed for the classical theory, with special attention to the features involving nonlinearity and the gauge degrees of freedom. The transition to the quantum theory is then performed for an arbitrary linear gauge, using the covariant quantization rules of nonlinear quantum mechanics. When the quantum Hamiltonian is written in the Weyl-ordered form appropriate for the application of the usual Dyson-Wick perturbative techniques, additional ordering terms appear with respects to the classical Hamiltonian. We discuss the relation of our results to those of previous authors, and the relevance of the ordering terms in field theory.     

Toward a Finite-Dimensional Formulation of Quantum Field Theory

Rules of quantization and equations of motion for a finite-dimensional formulation of quantum field theory are proposed which fulfill the following properties: (a) Both the rules of quantization and the equations of motion are covariant; (b) the equations of evolution are second order in derivatives and first order in derivatives of the spacetime coordinates; and (c) these rules of quantization and equations of motion lead to the usual (canonical) rules of quantization and the (Schrödinger) equation of motion of quantum mechanics in the particular case of mechanical systems. We also comment briefly on further steps to fully develop a satisfactory quantum field theory and the difficuties which may be encountered when doing so.     

Gauge fields,BRS symmetry and the Casimir effect

The canonical quantization of the photon field in covariant gauge is studied in the presence of static boundaries, on which the field satisfies either “bag” or superconductor boundary conditions. The inclusion of the Fadeev-Popov ghost fields is found to be essential for agreement with Coulomb gauge calculations of the Casimir energy.     

Trajectories and causal phase-space approach to relativistic quantum mechanics

We analyze phase-space approaches to relativistic quantum mechanics from the viewpoint of the causal interpretation. In particular, we discuss the canonical phase space associated with stochastic quantization, its relation to Hilbert space, and the Wigner-Moyal formalism. We then consider the nature of Feynman paths, and the problem of nonlocality, and conclude that a perfectly consistent relativistically covariant interpretation of quantum mechanics which retains the notion of particle trajectory is possible.     

Manifestly superPoincaré-covariant quantization of the Green-Schwarz superstring

The Green-Schwarz (GS) superstring is reformulated in a physically equivalent way by embedding it into a larger system containing additional fermionic string-as well as bosonic harmonic variables and possessing additional gauge invariances. The main feature of the new GS superstring system is that it contains covariant and functionally independent first-class constraints only. This allows straightforward application of the BFV-BRST formalism for a manifestly superPoincaré-covariant canonical quantization. The corresponding BRST charge turns out to be of second rank and, therefore, the BFV-BRST action contains fourth-order ghost terms.     

Gauge quantization for spin-32 fields

The free massless Rarita-Schwinger equation and a recently constructed interacting field theory known as supergravity are invariant under fermionic gauge transformations. Gauge field quantization techniques are applied in both cases. For the free field the Faddeev-Popov ansatz for the generating functional is justified by showing that it is equivalent to canonical quantization in a particular gauge. Propagators are obtained in several gauges and are shown to be ghost-free and causal. For supergravity the Faddeev-Popov ansatz is presented and the gauge fixing and determinant terms are discussed in detail in a Lorentz covariant gauge. The Slavnov-Taylor identity is obtained. It is argued that supergravity theory is free from the difficulty of acausal wave propagation of the type found by Velo and Zwanziger and that pole residues in tree approximation S-matrix elements are positive as required by unitarity.     

Berezin-Toeplitz Operators, a Semi-Classical Approach

This article is devoted to the Toeplitz Operators [4] in the context of the geometric quantization [11, 15]. We propose an ansatz for their Schwartz kernel. From this, we deduce the main known properties of the principal symbol of these operators and obtain new results : we define their covariant and contravariant symbols, which are full symbols, and compute the product of these symbols in terms of the Kähler metric. This gives canonical star products on the Kählerian manifolds. This ansatz is also useful to introduce the notion of microsupport.     

Gauge invariance and quantization applied to atom and nucleon internal structure

The prevailing theoretical quark and gluon momentum, orbital angular momentum and spin operators, satisfy either gauge invariance or the corresponding canonical commutation relation, but one never has these operators which satisfy both except the quark spin. The conflicts between gauge invariance and the canonical quantization requirement of these operators are discussed. A new set of quark and gluon momentum, orbital angular momentum and spin operators, which satisfy both gauge invariance and canonical momentum and angular momentum commutation relation, are proposed. To achieve such a proper decomposition the key point is to separate the gauge field into the pure gauge and the gauge covariant parts. The same conflicts also exist in QED and quantum mechanics, and have been solved in the same manner. The impacts of this new decomposition to the nucleon internal structure are discussed.     

Determination of Phase Space Spectra of the Generalized Chiral Schwinger model with the Lorentz invariant Mass like Term for the Choice a − r2 = 0

We have considered the generalized version of chiral schwinger model with the Lorentz covariant masslike term for gauge field with the choice a ? r² =?0. We carry out the quantization by the canonical Dirac method of both the gauge-invariant and non-invariant version of this model to determine the phase space structure. Therefore we have shown that the gauge invariant theory has the same physical spectrum as that of the original gauge noninvariant formulation.

     

Nucleon internal structure: a new set of quark, gluon momentum, angular momentum operators and parton distribution functions

It is unavoidable to deal with the quark and gluon momentum and angular momentum contributions to the nucleon momentum and spin in the study of nucleon internal structure. However we never have the quark and gluon momentum, orbital angular momentum and gluon spin operators which satisfy both the gauge invariance and the canonical momentum and angular momentum commutation relation. The conflicts between the gauge invariance and canonical quantization requirement of these operators are discussed. A new set of quark and gluon momentum, orbital angular momentum and spin operators, which satisfy both the gauge invariance and canonical momentum and angular momentum commutation relation, are proposed. The key point to achieve such a proper decomposition is to separate the gauge field into the pure gauge and the gauge covariant parts. The same conflicts also exist in QED and quantum mechanics and have been solved in the same manner. The impacts of this new decomposition to the nucleon internal structure are discussed.     

Covariant Canonical Formalism of Fields

The canonical formalism of fields consistentwith the covariance principle of special relativity isgiven here. The covariant canonical transformations offields are affected by 4-generating functions. All dynamical equations of fields, e.g., theHamilton, Euler–Lagrange, and other fieldequations, are preserved under the covariant canonicaltransformations. The dynamical observables are alsoinvariant under these transformations. The covariantcanonical transformations are therefore fundamentalsymmetry operations on fields, such that the physicaloutcomes of each field theory must be invariant under these transformations. We give here also thecovariant canonical equations of fields. These equationsare the covariant versions of the Hamilton equations.They are defined by a density functional that is scalar under both the Lorentz and thecovariant canonical transformations of fields.     

Covariant description of Hamiltonian form for field dynamics

Hamiltonian form of field dynamics is developed on a space-like hypersurface in space-time. A covariant Poisson bracket on the space-like hypersurface is defined and it plays a key role to describe every algebraic relation into a covariant form. It is shown that the Poisson bracket has the same symplectic structure that was brought in the covariant symplectic approach. An identity invariant under the canonical transformations is obtained. The identity follows a canonical equation in which the interaction Hamiltonian density generates a deformation of the space-like hypersurface. The equation just corresponds to the Yang-Feldman equation in the Heisenberg pictures in quantum field theory. By converting the covariant Poisson bracket on the space-like hypersurface to four-dimensional commutator, we can pass over to quantum field theory in the Heisenberg picture without spoiling the explicit relativistic covariance. As an example the canonical QCD is displayed in a covariant way on a space-like hypersurface.     

Moyal Quantization and Wave Equations

We develop the Moyal formalism in the context of covariant wave equations, such as Dirac's or Proca's wave equations, using the Moyal formalism for the canonical or Wigner representation and the relation between covariant and canonical representations.