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arXiv:0804.3365 · Reviews in Mathematical Physics

EFFECTIVE CONSTRAINTS FOR QUANTUM SYSTEMS

MARTIN BOJOWALD, BARBARA SANDHÖFER, AURELIANO SKIRZEWSKI, Artur Tsobanjan

Published Feb 1, 2009• 105 citations
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Abstract

An effective formalism for quantum constrained systems is presented which allows manageable derivations of solutions and observables, including a treatment of physical reality conditions without requiring full knowledge of the physical inner product. Instead of a state equation from a constraint operator, an infinite system of constraint functions on the quantum phase space of expectation values and moments of states is used. The examples of linear constraints as well as the free non-relativistic particle in parametrized form illustrate how standard problems of constrained systems can be dealt with in this framework.

DOI
10.1142/s0129055x09003591

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An effective formalism for quantum constrained systems is presented which allows manageable derivations of solutions and observables, including a treatment of physical reality conditions without requiring full knowledge of the physical inner product. Instead of a state equation from a constraint operator, an infinite system of constraint functions on the quantum phase space of expectation values and moments of states is used. The examples of linear constraints as well as the free non-relativistic particle in parametrized form illustrate how standard problems of constrained systems can be dealt with in this framework.
A framework for deriving equations of motion for constrained quantum systems is introduced and a procedure for its implementation is outlined. In special cases, the proposed new method, which takes advantage of the fact that the space of pure states in quantum mechanics has both a symplectic structure and a metric structure, reduces to a quantum analogue of the Dirac theory of constraints in classical mechanics. Explicit examples involving spin- particles are worked out in detail: in the first example, our approach coincides with a quantum version of the Dirac formalism, while the second example illustrates how a situation that cannot be treated by Dirac's approach can nevertheless be dealt with in the present scheme.
A framework for deriving equations of motion for constrained quantum systems is introduced and a procedure for its implementation is outlined. In special cases, the proposed new method, which takes advantage of the fact that the space of pure states in quantum mechanics has both a symplectic structure and a metric structure, reduces to a quantum analogue of the Dirac theory of constraints in classical mechanics. Explicit examples involving spin- particles are worked out in detail: in the first example, our approach coincides with a quantum version of the Dirac formalism, while the second example illustrates how a situation that cannot be treated by Dirac's approach can nevertheless be dealt with in the present scheme.
A general prescription for the treatment of constrained quantum motion is outlined. We consider in particular constraints defined by algebraic submanifolds of the quantum state space. The resulting formalism is applied to obtain solutions to the constrained dynamics of systems of multiple spin particles. When the motion is constrained to a certain product space containing all of the energy eigenstates, the dynamics thus obtained are quasi-unitary in the sense that the equations of motion take a form identical to that of unitary motion, but with different boundary conditions. When the constrained subspace is a product space of disentangled states, the associated motion is more intricate. Nevertheless, the equations of motion satisfied by the dynamical variables are obtained in closed form.
A general prescription for the treatment of constrained quantum motion is outlined. We consider in particular constraints defined by algebraic submanifolds of the quantum state space. The resulting formalism is applied to obtain solutions to the constrained dynamics of systems of multiple spin particles. When the motion is constrained to a certain product space containing all of the energy eigenstates, the dynamics thus obtained are quasi-unitary in the sense that the equations of motion take a form identical to that of unitary motion, but with different boundary conditions. When the constrained subspace is a product space of disentangled states, the associated motion is more intricate. Nevertheless, the equations of motion satisfied by the dynamical variables are obtained in closed form.
In this paper a new formulation of quantum dynamics of totally constrained systems is developed, in which physical quantities representing time are included as observables. In this formulation the hamiltonian constraints are imposed on a relative probability amplitude functional Ψ which determines the relative probability for each state to be observed, instead of on the state vectors as in the conventional Dirac quantization. This leads to a foliation of the state space by linear manifolds on each of which Ψ is constant, and dynamics is described as linear mappings among acausal subspaces which are transversal to these linear manifolds. This is a quantum analogue of the classical statistical dynamics of totally constrained systems developed in the previous paper. It is shown that if the von Neumann algebra C generated by constants of motion is of type I, Ψ can be consistently normalizable on the acausal subspaces on which a factor subalgebra of C is represented irreducibly, and the mappings among these acausal subspaces are conformal. How the formulation works is illustrated by simple totally constrained systems with a single constraint such as the parametrized quantum mechanics, a relativistic free particle in Minkowski and curved spacetimes, and a simple minisuperspace model. It is pointed out that the inner product of the relative probability amplitudes induced from the original Hilbert space picks up a special decomposition of the wave functions to the positive and the negative frequency modes.
Semiclassical mechanics of systems with first-class constraints is developed. Starting from the quantum theory, one investigates such objects as semiclassical states and observables, semiclassical inner product, semiclassical gauge transformations and evolution. Quantum mechanical semiclassical substitutions (not only the WKB-ansatz) can be viewed as "composed semiclassical states" being infinite superpositions of wave packets with minimal uncertainties of coordinates and momenta ("elementary semiclassical states"). Each elementary semiclassical state is specified by a set (X,f) of classical variables X (phase, coordinates, momenta) and quantum function f ("shape of the wave packet" or "quantum state in the background X"). A notion of an elemantary semiclassical state can be generalized to the constrained systems, provided that one uses the refined algebraic quantization approach based on modifying the inner product rather than on imposing the constrained conditions on physical states. The inner product of physical states is evaluated. It is obtained that classical part of X the semiclassical state should belong to the constrained surface; otherwise, the semiclassical state (X,f) will have zero norm for all f. Even under classical constraint conditions, the semiclassical inner product is degenerate. One should factorize then the space of semiclassical states. Semiclassical gauge transformations and evolution of semiclassical states are studied. The correspondence with semiclassical Dirac approach is discussed.