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arXiv:1805.11493

On Geometric Paradox in Quantization of Natural Dynamical Systems

Эрнест Ахмеджанович Тагиров

Published May 29, 2018• 0 citations
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Abstract

The Schrodinger variational approach (1926) to quantization of the natural Hamilton mechanics in $2n$-dimensional phase space is revised in the modern paradigm of quantum mechanics in application to the system the Hamilton function of which is a positive-definite quadratic form of the n momenta with the coefficients depending on coordinates in the generic configuration space $V_n$. The quantum Hamilonian thus obtained has a paradoxical potential term depending on choice of coordinates in $V_n$, which was discovered first by B. DeWitt in 1952 in the framework of canonical quantization of the system by a particular ordering of the operators of observables of momenta and coordinates. It is shown that the Schrodinger approach in the standard paradigm of quantum mechanics determines uniquely the ordering selected by DeWitt among a continuum of other possibilties to determine the quantum Hamiltonian. Two particular classes of observables of localization in $V_n$ are considered in detail. It is shown that, in general, the quantum-mechanical potential does not vanish even in the Euclidean configuration space $V_n$ except the case when Cartesian coordinates are taken as the observables of localization of the system. It is noted also that, in the quasi-classical approach to the quantization considered by DeWitt in 1957, the quantum Green function (propagator) is also non-unique and depends on the choice of a line in $V_n$ connecting these points. All three formalisms have the same local asymtotics of the quantum Hamiltonian if the normal Riemannian cordinates are used, at least implicitly, to localize the system in $V_n$. Keywords: Hamilton function; Quantization; Quantum-Mechanical Potential; Observables of Localization; Quantum Anomaly of (non-relativistic) General Covariance.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.1805.11493

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The Schrodinger variational approach (1926) to quantization of the natural Hamilton mechanics in 2n2n2n-dimensional phase space is revised in the modern paradigm of quantum mechanics in application to the system the Hamilton function of which is a positive-definite quadratic form of the n momenta with the coefficients depending on coordinates in the generic configuration space VnV_nVn​. The quantum Hamilonian thus obtained has a paradoxical potential term depending on choice of coordinates in VnV_nVn​, which was discovered first by B. DeWitt in 1952 in the framework of canonical quantization of the system by a particular ordering of the operators of observables of momenta and coordinates. It is shown that the Schrodinger approach in the standard paradigm of quantum mechanics determines uniquely the ordering selected by DeWitt among a continuum of other possibilties to determine the quantum Hamiltonian. Two particular classes of observables of localization in VnV_nVn​ are considered in detail. It is shown that, in general, the quantum-mechanical potential does not vanish even in the Euclidean configuration space VnV_nVn​ except the case when Cartesian coordinates are taken as the observables of localization of the system. It is noted also that, in the quasi-classical approach to the quantization considered by DeWitt in 1957, the quantum Green function (propagator) is also non-unique and depends on the choice of a line in VnV_nVn​ connecting these points. All three formalisms have the same local asymtotics of the quantum Hamiltonian if the normal Riemannian cordinates are used, at least implicitly, to localize the system in VnV_nVn​. Keywords: Hamilton function; Quantization; Quantum-Mechanical Potential; Observables of Localization; Quantum Anomaly of (non-relativistic) General Covariance.
This is the second of the two related papers analyzing the origins and possible explanations of a paradoxical phenomenon of the quantum potential (QP). It arises in quantum mechanics (QM) of a particle in a Riemannian n-dimensional configurational space obtained by various procedures of quantization of non-relativistic natural Hamilton systems. Now, two questions are investigated: 1) Does a QP appear in non-relativistic QM generated by the quantum theory of a scalar field (QFT) non-minimally coupled to the space-time metric? 2) To which extent is it in accord with quantization of natural systems? To this end, the asymptotic non-relativistic equation for particle-interpretable wave functions and operators of canonical observables are obtained from the primary QFT objects. It is shown that, in globally static space-time, the Hamilton operators coincide at the origin of the quasi-Euclidean space coordinates in both alternative approaches for any non-minimality constant ξ~\tilde \xiξ~​ , but a certain requirement of the Equivalence Principle to the quantum field propagator distinguishes the unique value ξ~=1/6\tilde \xi = 1/6ξ~​=1/6 = 1/6. Just the same value had the constant ζ in the quantum Hamiltonians arising from the traditional quantizations of natural systems: the DeWitt canonical, Pauli-DeWitt quasiclassical, geometric and Feynman ones, as well as in the revised Schrödinger variational quantization. Thus, the QP generated by mechanics is tightly related to non-minimality of the quantum scalar field. Meanwhile, an essential discrepancy exists between the non-relativistic QMs derived from the two alternative approaches: QFT generates a scalar QP, whereas various quantizations of natural mechanics lead to QPs depending on the choice of space coordinates as physical observables and nonvanishing even in flat space if the coordinates are curvilinear.
This is the first of two related papers analyzing and explaining the origin, manifestations and parodoxical features of the quantum potential (QP) from the non-relativistic and relativistic points of view. The QP arises in the quantum Hamiltonian under various procedures of quantization of natural systems, i.e., those whose Hamilton functions are positive-definite quadratic forms in momenta with coefficients depending on the coordinates in (n-dimensional) configurational space V n thus endowed with a Riemannian structure. The result of quantization may be considered as quantum mechanics (QM) of a particle in V n in the normal Gaussian coordinate system in the globally static space-time V 1,n . Contradiction of the QP to the General Covariance and Equivalence principles is discussed. It is found that actually the historically first Hilbert space-based quantization by E. Schrödinger (1926), after revision in the modern framework of QM, also leads to a QP in the form that B. DeWitt found 26 years later. Efforts to avoid the QP or to reduce its drawbacks are discussed. The general conclusion is that some form of QP and a violation of the principles of general relativity which it induces are inevitable in the non-relativistic quantum Hamiltonian. It is also shown that Feynman (path-integral) quantization of natural systems singles out two versions of the QP, which both determine two bi-scalar (independent of a choice of coordinates) propagators fixing two different algorithms of path integral calculation. The accompanying paper under the same general title and the subtitle “The Relativistic Point of View” (published in the same issue of the journal and referred to as Paper II) considers a relation of the nonrelativistic QP to the quantum theory of a scalar field non-minimally coupled to the curved space-time metric.
The quantization process was always tightly connected to the Hamiltonian formulation of classical mechanics. For non-Hamiltonian systems, traditional quantization algorithms turn out to be unsuitable. Numerous attempts to quantize non-Hamiltonian systems have shown that this problem is nontrivial and requires the development of new approaches. In this paper, we present the quantization methods that do not depend upon the Hamiltonian formulation of classical mechanics. Two approaches to the quantization of mechanical systems are considered: axiomatic and hydrodynamic. It is shown that the formal application of these approaches to the classical Hamilton-Jacobi theory allows obtaining the wave equation for the corresponding quantum system in natural way. Examples are considered that show the effectiveness of the proposed approaches, both for Hamiltonian and non-Hamiltonian systems. The spinor form of the relativistic Hamilton-Jacobi theory for classical particles is considered. It is shown that it naturally leads to the Dirac equation for the corresponding quantum particle and to its non-Hamiltonian generalization, the bispinor relativistic Kostin equation.
We present a generally covariant approach to quantum mechanics in which generalized positions, momenta and time variables are treated as coordinates on a fundamental “phase-spacetime”. We show that this covariant starting point makes quantization into a purely geometric flatness condition. This makes quantum mechanics purely geometric, and possibly even topological. Our approach is especially useful for time-dependent problems and systems subject to ambiguities in choices of clock or observer. As a byproduct, we give a derivation and generalization of the Wigner functions of standard quantum mechanics.
Hamilton-Jacobi theory is a fundamental subject of classical mechanics and has also an important role in the development of quantum mechanics. Its conceptual framework results from the advantages of transformation theory and, for this reason, relates to the features of the generating function of canonical transformations connecting a specific Hamiltonian H to a new Hamiltonian K chosen to simplify Hamilton's equations of motion. Usually, the choice is between K=0 and a cyclic K depending on the new conjugate momenta only. Here, we investigate more general representations of the new Hamiltonian. Furthermore, it is pointed out that the two common alternatives of K=0 and a cyclic K should be distinguished in more detail. An attempt is made to clearly discern the two regimes for the harmonic oscillator and, not surprisingly, some correspondences to the quantum harmonic oscillator appear. Thanks to this preparatory work, generalized coordinates and momenta associated with the Hamilton's principal function S (i.e., K=0) are used to determine dependences in the Hamilton's characteristic function W (i.e., cyclic K). The procedure leads to the Schrodinger's equation where the Hamilton's characteristic function plays the role of the Schrodinger's wave function, whereas the first integral invariant of Poincare' takes the place of the reduced Planck constant. This finding advances the pedagogical value of the Hamilton-Jacobi theory in view of an introduction to Schrodinger's wave mechanics without the tools of quantum mechanics.
Many quantization schemes rely on analogs of classical mechanics where the connections with classical mechanics are indirect. In this work I propose a new and direct connection between classical mechanics and quantum mechanics where the quantum mechanical propagator is derived from a variational principle. I identify this variational principle as a generalized form of Hamilton's principle. This proposed variational principle is unusual because the physical system is allowed to have imperfect information, i.e., there is incomplete knowledge of the physical state. Two distribution functionals over possible generalized momentum paths a[p(t)] and generalized coordinates paths b[q(t)] are defined. A generalized action is defined that corresponds to a contraction of a[p(t)], b[q(t)], and a matrix of the action evaluated at all possible p and q paths. Hamilton's principle is the extremization of the generalized action over all possible distributions. The normalization of the two distributions allows their values to be negative and they are shown to be the real and imaginary parts of the complex amplitude. The amplitude in the Feynman path integral is shown to be an optimal vector that extremizes the generalized action. This formulation is also shown to be directly applicable to statistical mechanics and I show how irreversible behavior and the micro-canonical ensemble follows immediately.