The approximations of classical mechanics resulting from quantum mechanics are richer than a correspondence of classical dynamical variables with self-adjoint Hilbert space operators. Assertion that classical dynamic variables correspond to self-adjoint Hilbert space operators is disputable and sets unnatural limits on quantum mechanics. Well known examples of classical dynamical variables not associated with self-adjoint Hilbert space operators are discussed as a motivation for the realizations of quantum field theory that lack Hermitian field operators but exhibit interaction.
The approximations of classical mechanics resulting from quantum mechanics are richer than a correspondence of classical dynamical variables with self-adjoint Hilbert space operators. Assertion that classical dynamic variables correspond to self-adjoint Hilbert space operators is disputable and sets unnatural limits on quantum mechanics. Well known examples of classical dynamical variables not associated with self-adjoint Hilbert space operators are discussed as a motivation for the realizations of quantum field theory that lack Hermitian field operators but exhibit interaction.
A correspondence of classical to quantum physics studied by Schrö\-dinger and Ehrenfest applies without the necessity of technical conjecture that classical observables are associated with Hermitian Hilbert space operators. This correspondence provides appropriate nonrelativistic classical interpretations to realizations of relativistic quantum physics that are incompatible with the canonical formalism. Using this correspondence, Newtonian mechanics for a 1/r potential provides approximations for the dynamics of nonrelativistic classical particle states within unconstrained quantum field theory (UQFT).
Operators represent physically observable quantities, as discussed in Section 2.5. The structure and property of operators depend on the nature of the degree of freedom; operators act on the state space and in particular on the state vector of a given degree of freedom. The significance of operators in the interpretation of quantum mechanics has been discussed in Baaquie (2013e). The operators discussed in this chapter are mostly based on the continuous degree of freedom, which is analyzed in Section 3.1. Hermitian operators represent physically observable properties of a degree of freedom and their mathematical properties are defined in Section 3.3. The coordinate and momentum operators are the leading exemplar of a pair of noncommuting Hermitian operators and these are studied in some detail in Section 3.4. The Weyl operators yield, as in Section 3.5, a finite-dimensional example of the shift and scaling operators; Section 3.8 provides a unitary representation of the coordinate and momentum operators. The term self-adjoint operator is used for Hermitian operators when there is a need to emphasize the importance of the domain of the Hilbert space on which the operators act – a topic not usually discussed in most books on quantum mechanics. Sections 3.10 and 3.11 discuss the concept of self-adjoint operators, in particular the crucial role played by the domain for realizing the property of self-adjointness. It is shown in Section 3.12 how the requirement of self-adjointness yields a non-trivial extension of Hamiltonians that include singular interactions.
Abstract The object of this book is to present the new quantum mechanics in a unified representation which, so far as it is possible and useful, is mathematically rigorous [A]presentation of the mathematical tools necessary for the purposes of this theory will be given, i.e., a theory of Hilbert spaces and the so-called Hermitian [or self-adjoint] operators. To this end, an accurate introduction to unbounded operators is also necessary; that is, an extension of the theory beyond its classical limits (developed by Hilbert and E. Hellinger, F. Riesz, E. Schmidt, 0. Toeplitz). The following may be said regarding the method employed in this type of treatment: as a rule, calculations should be performed with the operators themselves (which represent physical quantities) and not with the matrices, which, after the introduction of a (special and arbitrary) coordinate system in Hilbert space, result from them. This “coordinate free” (i.e., invariant) method, with its strongly geometric language, possesses noticeable formal advantages.
The Hilbert-Space Description By the static description of a physical system we mean the rules that assign specified mathematical objects to the states and to the physical quantities of the system, and the prescriptions for calculating the probability distribution of the possible values of every physical quantity when the state of the system is given. In the usual Hilbert-space formulation of quantum mechanics, to each physical system is attached a separable Hilbert space (generally infinite-dimensional) over the complex field. To every physical quantity is associated a linear, self-adjoint, not necessarily bounded operator on. If one deals with a strictly quantum system, then the converse is also generally assumed: every self-adjoint operator on represents some physical quan- tity. The restriction “strictly quantum” is necessary: if the system retains some nonquantum (i.e. classical) feature, so that it requires the algorithm of so-called “superselection rules” (see Chapter 5), then there are self-adjoint operators on that do not represent physical quantities. It should also be stressed that even in the strictly quantum case, most of the self-adjoint operators actually do not represent “interesting” physical quantities: only a few of them represent physical quantities that are useful and meaningful for the description of the physical system (e.g., energy, momentum, position, angular momentum). Therefore, by asserting that every self-adjoint operator on corresponds to some physical quantity we mean there is no a priori impossibility of devising such a correspondence, but we do not claim that this correspondence is present in the real work of experimental physics.
We are focused on the idea that observables in quantum physics are a bit more then just hermitian operators and that this is, in general, a “tricky business”. The origin of this idea comes from the fact that there is a subtle difference between symmetric, hermitian, and self-adjoint operators which are of immense importance in formulating Quantum Mechanics. The theory of self-adjoint extensions is presented through several physical examples and some emphasis is given on the physical implications and applications.
A quantization of a fixed classical mechanical system is firstly an association between quantum mechanical observables (preferably self-adjoint operators on Hilbert space) and classical mechanical observables (i.e. real-valued functions on phase space). Secondly, a quantization should permit an interpretation of the correspondence principle that ‘classical mechanics is the limit of quantum mechanics as Planck's constant approaches zero'. With these two underlying precepts, Section 2 states the four basic requirements, I to IV, of a quantization along with an additional requirement V that characterizes the subclass of special quantizations.