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arXiv:0901.1074 · Physica Scripta

Quantum and semiclassical spin networks: from atomic and molecular physics to quantum computing and gravity

Vincenzo Aquilanti, Ana Carla P Bitencourt, Cristiane da S Ferreira, Annalisa Marzuoli, Mirco Ragni

Published Nov 1, 2008• 38 citations

Abstract

The mathematical apparatus of quantum-mechanical angular momentum (re)coupling, developed originally to describe spectroscopic phenomena in atomic, molecular, optical and nuclear physics, is embedded in modern algebraic settings which emphasize the underlying combinatorial aspects. SU (2) recoupling theory, involving Wigner's 3 nj symbols, as well as the related problems of their calculations, general properties, asymptotic limits for large entries, nowadays plays a prominent role also in quantum gravity and quantum computing applications. We refer to the ingredients of this theory—and of its extension to other Lie and quantum groups—by using the collective term of 'spin networks'. Recent progress is recorded about the already established connections with the mathematical theory of discrete orthogonal polynomials (the so-called Askey scheme), providing powerful tools based on asymptotic expansions, which correspond on the physical side to various levels of semi-classical limits. These results are useful not only in theoretical molecular physics but also in motivating algorithms for the computationally demanding problems of molecular dynamics and chemical reaction theory, where large angular momenta are typically involved. As for quantum chemistry, applications of these techniques include selection and classification of complete orthogonal basis sets in atomic and molecular problems, either in configuration space (Sturmian orbitals) or in momentum space. In this paper, we list and discuss some aspects of these developments—such as for instance the hyperquantization algorithm—as well as a few applications to quantum gravity and topology, thus providing evidence of a unifying background structure.

DOI: 10.1088/0031-8949/78/05/058103

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The mathematical apparatus of quantum-mechanical angular momentum (re)coupling, developed originally to describe spectroscopic phenomena in atomic, molecular, optical and nuclear physics, is embedded in modern algebraic settings which emphasize the underlying combinatorial aspects. SU (2) recoupling theory, involving Wigner's 3 nj symbols, as well as the related problems of their calculations, general properties, asymptotic limits for large entries, nowadays plays a prominent role also in quantum gravity and quantum computing applications. We refer to the ingredients of this theory—and of its extension to other Lie and quantum groups—by using the collective term of 'spin networks'. Recent progress is recorded about the already established connections with the mathematical theory of discrete orthogonal polynomials (the so-called Askey scheme), providing powerful tools based on asymptotic expansions, which correspond on the physical side to various levels of semi-classical limits. These results are useful not only in theoretical molecular physics but also in motivating algorithms for the computationally demanding problems of molecular dynamics and chemical reaction theory, where large angular momenta are typically involved. As for quantum chemistry, applications of these techniques include selection and classification of complete orthogonal basis sets in atomic and molecular problems, either in configuration space (Sturmian orbitals) or in momentum space. In this paper, we list and discuss some aspects of these developments—such as for instance the hyperquantization algorithm—as well as a few applications to quantum gravity and topology, thus providing evidence of a unifying background structure.

An outline is given of current advances on some basic ingredients of applied quantum mechanics, that were previously developed along different lines and are now being compacted within a unifying framework. Specifically, (i) complete orthogonal expansion basis sets for the atomic and molecular orbitals of quantum chemistry are classified within angular momentum theory, presently incorporated in and generalized as spin network theory; (ii) spin-networks and the underlying theory of hypergeometrical polynomials are presented within a graphical approach; (iii) the combinatorial significance of the graphical approach is given a projective geometry foundation; (iv) emergence and role of hidden (Regge’s) symmetries are revealed and discussed in a variety of contexts.

Spin networks, namely, the 3nj symbols of quantum angular momentum theory and their generalizations to groups other than SU(2) and to quantum groups, permeate many areas of pure and applied science. The issues of their computation and characterization for large values of their entries are a challenge for diverse fields, such as spectroscopy and quantum chemistry, molecular and condensed matter physics, quantum computing, and the geometry of space time. Here we record progress both in their efficient calculation and in the study of the large j asymptotics. For the 9j symbol, a prototypical entangled network, we present and extensively check numerically formulas that illustrate the passage to the semiclassical limit, manifesting both the occurrence of disentangling and the discrete-continuum transition.

We use the mathematical structure of group algebras and

H^{+}

-algebras for describing certain problems concerning the quantum dynamics of systems of angular momenta, including also the spin systems. The underlying groups are

{\rm SU}(2)

and its quotient

{\rm SO}(3,\mathbb{R})

. The scheme developed is applied in two different contexts. Firstly, the purely group-algebraic framework is applied to the system of angular momenta of arbitrary origin, e.g., orbital angular momenta of electrons and nucleons, systems of quantized angular momenta of rotating extended objects like molecules. The other promising area of applications is Schrödinger quantum mechanics of rigid body with its often rather unexpected and very interesting features. Even within this Schrödinger framework the algebras of operators related to group algebras are a very useful tool. We investigate some problems of composed systems and the quasiclassical limit obtained as the asymptotics of "large" quantum numbers, i.e., "quickly oscillating" functions on groups. They are related in an interesting way to geometry of the coadjoint orbits of

H^{+}

.

We expand a set of notions recently introduced providing the general setting for a universal representation of the quantum structure on which quantum information stands. The dynamical evolution process associated with generic quantum information manipulation is based on the (re)coupling theory of SU(2) angular momenta. Such scheme automatically incorporates all the essential features that make quantum information encoding much more efficient than classical: it is fully discrete; it deals with inherently entangled states, naturally endowed with a tensor product structure; it allows for generic encoding patterns. The model proposed can be thought of as the non-Boolean generalization of the quantum circuit model, with unitary gates expressed in terms of 3nj coefficients connecting inequivalent binary coupling schemes of n+1 angular momentum variables, as well as Wigner rotations in the eigenspace of the total angular momentum. A crucial role is played by elementary j-gates (6j symbols) which satisfy algebraic identities that make the structure of the model similar to "state sum models", employed in discretizing Topological Quantum Field Theories and quantum gravity. The spin network simulator can thus be viewed also as a Combinatorial QFT model for computation. The semiclassical limit (large j's) is discussed.

It has been the purpose of the monograph Angular Momentum in Quantum Physics (AMQP) to develop comprehensively those aspects of angular momentum theory that are required in carrying out research in modern physics and chemistry. The emphasis there was principally on physical concepts and the symmetry principles that underlie the general applicability of angular momentum theory to a broad area of physical phenomena. Mathematical techniques were introduced within the context of the physical concepts themselves. Physical applications of angular momentum theory are to a large extent applications of specific properties of Wigner or Racah functions (more generally of 3 n-j coefficients) or of the representation functions themselves. Such applications tend to emphasize the “numerical” aspects of these functions and thus obscure the relationships to other areas of mathematics. The purpose of the present monograph is to show by specific examples the many interrelations that exist between concepts originating in angular momentum theory and various areas of mathematics. It turns out that this is a substantial task—the diversity of the interrelations is far greater than might be thought. Even a brief acquaintance with the contents of AMQP will show that the concept that recurs again and again in physical applications is that of an irreducible tensor operator with respect to a group [in our case, SU (2), the quantal rotation group]. Indeed, it is this concept that carries the mathematical apparatus of the physical theory beyond the related but much simpler results of the Lie algebraic theory of the angular momentum itself and the implied representation theory of the group SU (2).

Eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the volume operator, associated with the symmetric coupling of three SU (2) angular momentum operators, can be analyzed on the basis of a discrete Schrödinger–like equation which provides a semiclassical Hamiltonian picture of the evolution of a 'quantum of space', as shown by the authors in [1]. Emphasis is given here to the formalization in terms of a quadratic symmetry algebra and its automorphism group. This view is related to the Askey scheme, the hierarchical structure which includes all hypergeometric polynomials of one (discrete or continuous) variable. Key tool for this comparative analysis is the duality operation defined on the generators of the quadratic algebra and suitably extended to the various families of overlap functions (generalized recoupling coefficients). These families, recognized as lying at the top level of the Askey scheme, are classified and a few limiting cases are addressed.