The generalized Weyl transform of index $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ is used to implement the time-slice definition of the phase space path integral yielding the Feynman kernel in the case of noncommutative quantum mechanics. As expected, this representation for the Feynman kernel is not unique but labeled by the real parameter $\ensuremath{\alpha}$. We succeed in proving that the $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-dependent contributions disappear at the limit where the time slice goes to zero. This proof of consistency turns out to be intricate because the Hamiltonian involves products of noncommuting operators originating from the noncommutativity. The antisymmetry of the matrix parametrizing the noncommutativity plays a key role in the cancellation mechanism of the $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-dependent terms.
The generalized Weyl transform of index \ensuremathα is used to implement the time-slice definition of the phase space path integral yielding the Feynman kernel in the case of noncommutative quantum mechanics. As expected, this representation for the Feynman kernel is not unique but labeled by the real parameter \ensuremathα. We succeed in proving that the \ensuremathα-dependent contributions disappear at the limit where the time slice goes to zero. This proof of consistency turns out to be intricate because the Hamiltonian involves products of noncommuting operators originating from the noncommutativity. The antisymmetry of the matrix parametrizing the noncommutativity plays a key role in the cancellation mechanism of the \ensuremathα-dependent terms.
The Weyl transform is applied in quantum dynamics to derive and extend Moyal's statistical theory of phase-space distributions for noncommuting coordinate and momentum operators. The distinction is made between Weyl transforms in Schrödinger and Heisenberg pictures; the general case of time-dependent Hamiltonians is considered. The Wigner function for the probability distribution in a phase space of Cartesian coordinates Q and momenta K propagates according to a conditional probability P(t, Q, K | t0, Q0, K0), which is exhibited as a Feynman path integral in phase space. Properties of P(t, Q, K | t0, Q0, K0) are developed; it is expressed in terms of the quantum generalization of the classical Liouville operator. The Weyl transform of a Heisenberg operator propagates according to P(t, Q0, K0 | t0, Q, K) which is also given as a Feynman path integral. An equation for the time evolution of Weyl transforms of Heisenberg operators is obtained, according to which the transform of Heisenberg coordinate and momentum operators obey a quantum form of Hamilton's equations of motion. If the initial density operator of the system commutes with the coordinate operator, then the state of the system is a mixture of pure coordinate states; the spectrum of the density operator in this case is continuous. For a Heisenberg operator AH(t) with Weyl transform AH(t, Q, K), the function A(t,Q)=∫dKAH(t,Q,K) is the expectation at time t of the dynamical property for a quantum system initially in a pure state of coordinate Q; it is the quantum-mechanical generalization of the dynamical property of the system along the classical trajectory in configuration space at time t. The probability amplitude for the time dependence of A(t,Q) can be expressed as a Feynman path integral with a Heisenberg Lagrangian. The amplitude of the conditional probability P(t, Q | t0, Q0) considered by Feynman is expressed as a path integral with a Schrödinger Lagrangian. The velocity in the Heisenberg Lagrangian is the negative of that in the Schrödinger Lagrangian of Feynman, but it agrees with the velocity appearing in the Hamiltonian equations. It is the Heisenberg Lagrangian that is the Lagrangian of classical dynamics. For a particle whose potential energy is a function of position, a quantum form of Newton's second law is obtained. An extension of the formalism to non-Cartesian coordinate systems is given.
Inspired by a recent work that proposes using coherent states to evaluate the Feynman kernel in noncommutative space, we provide an independent formulation of the path-integral approach for quantum mechanics on the Moyal plane, with the transition amplitude defined between two coherent states of mean position coordinates. In our approach, we invoke solely a representation of the noncommutative algebra in terms of commutative variables. The kernel expression for a general Hamiltonian was found to contain Gaussian-like damping terms, and it is non-perturbative in the sense that it does not reduce to the commutative theory in the limit of vanishing θ—the noncommutative parameter. As an example, we studied the free particle's propagator which turned out to be oscillating with period being the product of its mass and θ. Further, it satisfies the Pauli equation for a charged particle with its spin aligned to a constant, orthogonal B field in the ordinary Landau problem, thus providing an interesting evidence of how noncommutativity can induce spin-like effects at the quantum mechanical level.
The method of Weyl transforms is used to rigorously derive path integral forms for position and momentum transition amplitudes from the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for arbitrary Hermitian Hamiltonians. It is found that all paths in phase space contribute equally in magnitude, but that each path has a different phase, equal to 1/h/ times an ’’effective action’’ taken along it. The latter is the time integral of p⋅q̇−h (p,q), h (p,q) being the Weyl transform of the Hamiltonian operator H, which differs from the classical Hamiltonian function by terms of order h/2, vanishing in the classical limit. These terms, which can be explicitly computed, are zero for relatively simple Hamiltonians, such as (1/2M)[P−eA (Q)]2+V (Q), but appear when the coupling of the position and momentum operators is stronger, such as for a relativistic spinless particle in an electromagnetic field, or when configuration space is curved. They are always zero if one opts for Weyl’s rule for forming the quantum operator corresponding to a given classical Hamiltonian. The transition amplitude between two position states is found to be expressible as a path integral in configuration space alone only in very special cases, such as when the Hamiltonian is quadratic in the momenta.
We consider Feynman's path integral approach to quantum mechanics with a noncommutativity in position and momentum sectors of the phase space. We show that a quantum-mechanical system with this kind of noncommutativity is equivalent to the another one with usual commutative coordinates and momenta. We found connection between quadratic classical Hamiltonians, as well as Lagrangians, in their commutative and noncommutative regimes. The general procedure to compute Feynman's path integral on this noncommutative phase space with quadratic Lagrangians (Hamiltonians) is presented. Using this approach, a particle in a constant field, ordinary and inverted harmonic oscillators are elaborated in detail.
Starting from square-integrable wave functions on a Lie group, we build an invertible Fourier transform mapping them on wave functions on the dual of the Lie algebra. This is a group-theoretic version of the map from position space to momentum space, with generally noncommuting momenta owing to the group structure. As a result, the multiplication of momentum-dependent functions involves star products, which makes the construction of noncommutative Fourier series much more involved than that of their commutative cousin. This is especially true when compact subgroups are present, in which case we carefully take into account quotients of the operator algebra, and the resulting normalization issues. We show that our formalism provides an isometry of Hilbert spaces, and use it to derive a noncommutative Poisson summation formula for any compact Lie group. This is a key preliminary for the computation of Wigner functions and path integrals for quantum systems on group manifolds.
We have analyzed Dyson's U-matrix theory of solving the Schr\"odinger equation in the interaction picture and are able to express the U matrix as a dominant term plus an infinite series involving multiple integrals of time. For a certain rather restrictive class of Hamiltonians, our theory is exact for a general time-dependent problem. For other Hamiltonians, we can only obtain approximate expressions for our U matrix and hence the wave function. Treating a time-independent problem as a special case of the time-dependent situation with a sudden-switching process, we have shown that our U matrix is exact. To demonstrate the working procedures of our theory, we apply it to study the well-known time-independent charged harmonic-oscillator problem and the more general harmonic oscillator with a time-dependent driving force. Compared with other methods, our new theory appears to lead to a result which contains more information than others due to the inclusion of noncommutability properties of operators in the operator Schr\"odinger equation. It has been shown that the classical Feynman path-integral formalism can be deduced from quantum mechanics with the use of the Green's-function operator. It is interesting to note that apart from a step function, the Green's-function operator is the same as that of our U(s) matrix, which is the U matrix obtained within the regime of the Schr\"odinger picture for a time-independent Hamiltonian, as a special case of our general time-dependent treatment.