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arXiv:0909.1387 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical

Wigner distributions for finite-state systems without redundant phase-point operators

S. Chaturvedi, N Mukunda, R Simon

Published Jan 27, 2010• 13 citations
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Abstract

We set up Wigner distributions for N -state quantum systems following a Dirac-inspired approach. In contrast to much of the work in this study, requiring a 2 N × 2 N phase space, particularly when N is even, our approach is uniformly based on an N × N phase-space grid and thereby avoids the necessity of having to invoke a 'quadrupled' phase space and hence the attendant redundance. Both N odd and even cases are analysed in detail and it is found that there are striking differences between the two. While the N odd case permits full implementation of the marginal property, the even case does so only in a restricted sense. This has the consequence that in the even case one is led to several equally good definitions of the Wigner distributions as opposed to the odd case where the choice turns out to be unique.

DOI
10.1088/1751-8113/43/7/075302

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We set up Wigner distributions for N -state quantum systems following a Dirac-inspired approach. In contrast to much of the work in this study, requiring a 2 N × 2 N phase space, particularly when N is even, our approach is uniformly based on an N × N phase-space grid and thereby avoids the necessity of having to invoke a 'quadrupled' phase space and hence the attendant redundance. Both N odd and even cases are analysed in detail and it is found that there are striking differences between the two. While the N odd case permits full implementation of the marginal property, the even case does so only in a restricted sense. This has the consequence that in the even case one is led to several equally good definitions of the Wigner distributions as opposed to the odd case where the choice turns out to be unique.
We set up Wigner distributions for N-state quantum systems following a Dirac-inspired approach. In contrast to much of the work in this study, requiring a 2N x 2N phase space, particularly when N is even, our approach is uniformly based on an N x N phase-space grid and thereby avoids the necessity of having to invoke a `quadrupled' phase space and hence the attendant redundance. Both N odd and even cases are analysed in detail and it is found that there are striking differences between the two. While the N odd case permits full implementation of the marginal property, the even case does so only in a restricted sense. This has the consequence that in the even case one is led to several equally good definitions of the Wigner distributions as opposed to the odd case where the choice turns out to be unique.
A complete solution to the problem of setting up Wigner distribution for N-level quantum systems is presented. The scheme makes use of some of the ideas introduced by Dirac in the course of defining functions of noncommuting observables and works uniformly for all N. Further, the construction developed here has the virtue of being essentially input-free in that it merely requires finding a square root of a certain N^2 x N^2 complex symmetric matrix, a task which, as is shown, can always be accomplished analytically. As an illustration, the case of a single qubit is considered in some detail and it is shown that one recovers the result of Feynman and Wootters for this case without recourse to any auxiliary constructs.
We discuss questions pertaining to the definition of 'momentum', 'momentum space', 'phase space' and 'Wigner distributions'; for finite dimensional quantum systems. For such systems, where traditional concepts of 'momenta' established for continuum situations offer little help, we propose a physically reasonable and mathematically tangible definition and use it for the purpose of setting up Wigner distributions in a purely algebraic manner. It is found that the point of view adopted here is limited to odd dimensional systems only. The mathematical reasons which force this situation axe examined in detail.
The Weyl-Wigner description of quantum mechanical operators and states in classical phase-space language is well known for Cartesian systems. We describe a new approach based on ideas of Dirac which leads to the same results but with interesting additional insights. A way to set up Wigner distributions in an interesting non-Cartesian case, when the configuration space is a compact connected Lie group, is outlined. Both these methods are adapted to quantum systems with finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces, and the results are contrasted.
A discussion of discrete Wigner functions in phase space related to mutually unbiased bases is presented. This approach requires mathematical assumptions which limits it to systems with density matrices defined on complex Hilbert spaces of dimension pn where p is a prime number. With this limitation it is possible to define a phase space and Wigner functions in close analogy to the continuous case. That is, we use a phase space that is a direct sum of n two-dimensional vector spaces each containing p2 points. This is in contrast to the more usual choice of a two-dimensional phase space containing p2n points. A useful aspect of this approach is that we can relate complete separability of density matrices and their Wigner functions in a natural way. We discuss this in detail for bipartite systems and present the generalization to arbitrary numbers of subsystems when p is odd. Special attention is required for two qubits (p=2) and our technique fails to establish the separability property for more than two qubits.
A discussion of discrete Wigner functions in phase space related to mutually unbiased bases is presented. This approach requires mathematical assumptions, which limits it to systems with density matrices defined on complex Hilbert spaces of dimension p n where p is a prime number. With this limitation, it is possible to define a phase space and Wigner functions in close analogy to the continuous case. That is, we use a phase space that is a direct sum of n two-dimensional vector spaces each containing p 2 points. This is in contrast to the more usual choice of a two-dimensional phase space containing p 2 n points. A useful aspect of this approach is that we can relate complete separability of density matrices and their Wigner functions in a natural way. We discuss this in detail for bipartite systems and present the generalization to arbitrary numbers of subsystems when p is odd. Special attention is required for two qubits ( p = 2) and our technique fails to establish the separability property for more than two qubits. Finally, we give a brief discussion of Hamiltonian dynamics in the language developed in the paper.