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arXiv:0908.2439

An empirically equivalent random field for the quantized electromagnetic field

Morgan, Peter

Published Aug 17, 2009• 0 citations
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Abstract

A random field that is empirically equivalent to the quantized electromagnetic field is constructed. A mapping between the creation and annihilation operator algebras of a random field and of the quantized electromagnetic field provides a functor between the algebras and the Hilbert spaces generated by the vacuum states over those algebras. The functor inevitably does not extend to a functorial relationship between the local algebras generated by the random field and by the quantized electromagnetic field, but the empirical content provided by the vacuum state restores an empirical equivalence through the Hilbert spaces. The isomorphism from one creation and annihilation algebra to the other is not translation invariant because it depends on mapping positive frequency modes of one helicity to equivalent negative frequency modes, but the two theories taken independently are presented in equally well-defined and manifestly Lorentz and translation covariant ways.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.0908.2439

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A random field that is empirically equivalent to the quantized electromagnetic field is constructed. A mapping between the creation and annihilation operator algebras of a random field and of the quantized electromagnetic field provides a functor between the algebras and the Hilbert spaces generated by the vacuum states over those algebras. The functor inevitably does not extend to a functorial relationship between the local algebras generated by the random field and by the quantized electromagnetic field, but the empirical content provided by the vacuum state restores an empirical equivalence through the Hilbert spaces. The isomorphism from one creation and annihilation algebra to the other is not translation invariant because it depends on mapping positive frequency modes of one helicity to equivalent negative frequency modes, but the two theories taken independently are presented in equally well-defined and manifestly Lorentz and translation covariant ways.
Abstract Classical Koopman–von Neumann Hilbert spaces of states are constructed here by the action of classical random fields on a vacuum state in ways that support an action of the quantized electromagnetic field and of the U (1)—invariant observables of the quantized Dirac spinor field, allowing a manifestly Lorentz invariant classical understanding of the state spaces of the two field theories, generalizing the Quantum–Mechanics–Free Systems of Tsang&Caves and Quantum Non-Demolition measurements. The algebra of functions on a classical phase space is commutative but the algebra of classical observables associated with coordinate transformations is noncommutative, so that, for example, we can as much ask whether a classical state is an eigenstate of a rotation as we can in quantum mechanics and so that entangled states can be distinguished from mixed states, making classical random fields as weird as quantum fields.
Abstract We first present a summary of the quantization of the electromagnetic field in position space representation, using two main approaches: the Landau-Peierls approach in the Coulomb gauge and the Białynicki-Birula (BB) approach, based on the Riemann–Silberstein vector. We describe both in a framework that starts with a classical Hamiltonian structure and builds the quantum model in a bosonic Fock space by a precisely defined principle of correspondence. We show that the two approaches are completely equivalent. This is formulated by showing that there is a unitary map between the Fock spaces that makes them isomorphic. Since all the physically measurable quantities can be expressed in terms of scalar products, this implies that the two quantizations lead to exactly the same physical properties. We show furthemore that the isomorphism is preserved in the time evolutions. To show the equivalence, we use the concepts of helicity and frequency operators. The combination of these two operators provides a formulation that allows one to make the link between these two methods of quantization in a precise way. We also show that the construction in the BB quantization that avoids the presence of negative eigenvalues in the Hamiltonian, in analogy with the one for the Dirac equation for electrons and positrons, can be performed through an alternative choice of the canonical variables for Maxwell’s equations.
A theoretical framework for quantization, defined by the normalized positive-definite probability operator establishing dynamical correspondence between classical and quantum Poisson brackets, is presented. The resulting quantum theory, unlike the conventional one, admits consistent probabilistic interpretation. It is shown that, in the nonrelativistic case, quantization based on the probability operator leads to the theory known as ‘‘quantum mechanics with a non-negative quantum distribution function.’’ A generalization of the proposed framework to the case of the relativistic theory of fields is attempted. Four auxiliary problems of constructing probability operators of one-dimensional field oscillators in Bose and Fermi algebras are formulated and solved. On the basis of these solutions it is concluded that spinor fields are not quantizable in the Bose algebra with the help of the probability operator (the analog of Pauli’s theorem). An equation for the probability operator of a system of free fields is derived from the principles of dynamical correspondence and translational invariance. The physical meaning of the operators corresponding to classical field amplitudes, such as annihilation and creation operators of field quanta with definite energy-momentum, is shown to emerge as a consequence of this equation. It is shown that the quantization of a system consisting only of tensor fields or only of spinor fields in the formalism of the probability operator leads to difficulties. It is shown further that these difficulties can be removed by considering quantization of a system containing both tensor and spinor fields. As an illustration, quantization of a system consisting of a massive vector field and a massive spinor field is considered and it is found that a noncontradictory quantization requires the mass of the vector particle to be less than that of the spinor particle. The probability operator thus acts as a mechanism of selection of the fields to be quantized already at the level of free fields.
An exponential Hilbert space, which is an abstraction of the familiar Fock space for bosons, provides a natural framework to discuss a wide class of field-operator representations. This framework is especially convenient when wide invariance groups, such as a unique translationally invariant state, are involved. In this paper, we develop the theory of exponential Hilbert spaces in a functional fashion suitable to discuss representations of field operators enjoying such invariance features. Representations of both current algebras and canonical field operators are discussed, and it is shown that these representations are natural generalizations of those characterizing infinitely divisible random processes. Questions of reducibility and equivalence are treated, and we prove that our construction gives rise to infinitely many unitarily inequivalent representations. Nevertheless, an extremely simple expression, bilinear in annihilation and creation operators, abstractly characterizes the operators of both the current algebras and canonical fields. Dynamical applications to quantum field theory will be treated in subsequent papers.
A first-quantized free photon is a complex massless vector field A=(Aμ) whose field strength satisfies Maxwell’s equations in vacuum. We construct the Hilbert space H of the photon by endowing the vector space of the fields A in the temporal-Coulomb gauge with a positive-definite and relativistically invariant inner product. We give an explicit expression for this inner product, identify the Hamiltonian for the photon with the generator of time translations in H, determine the operators representing the momentum and the helicity of the photon, and introduce a chirality operator whose eigenfunctions correspond to fields having a definite sign of energy. We also construct a position operator for the photon whose components commute with each other and with the chirality and helicity operators. This allows for the construction of the localized states of the photon with a definite sign of energy and helicity. We derive an explicit formula for the latter and compute the corresponding electric and magnetic fields. These turn out to diverge not just at the point where the photon is localized but on a plane containing this point. We identify the axis normal to this plane with an associated symmetry axis and show that each choice of this axis specifies a particular position operator, a corresponding position basis, and a position representation of the quantum mechanics of a photon. In particular, we examine the position wave functions determined by such a position basis, elucidate their relationship with the Riemann-Silberstein and Landau-Peierls wave functions, and give an explicit formula for the probability density of the spatial localization of the photon.