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arXiv:2411.14391 · Journal of Pseudo-Differential Operators and Applications

Phase space representation of the density operator: Bopp pseudodifferential calculus and Moyal product

Maurice A. de Gosson

Published Mar 19, 2025• 1 citation
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract Bopp shifts, introduced in 1956, played a pivotal role in the statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics. As demonstrated in our previous work, Bopp’s construction provides a phase-space perspective of quantum mechanics that is closely connected to the Moyal star product and its role in deformation quantization. In this paper, we both review and expand on our exploration of Bopp quantization, emphasizing its relationship with the Moyal product and its applications in elementary deformation quantization. Notably, we apply these constructions to the density operator, which represents mixed states in quantum mechanics, offering novel insights into its role within this framework.

DOI
10.1007/s11868-024-00674-3

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Abstract Bopp shifts, introduced in 1956, played a pivotal role in the statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics. As demonstrated in our previous work, Bopp’s construction provides a phase-space perspective of quantum mechanics that is closely connected to the Moyal star product and its role in deformation quantization. In this paper, we both review and expand on our exploration of Bopp quantization, emphasizing its relationship with the Moyal product and its applications in elementary deformation quantization. Notably, we apply these constructions to the density operator, which represents mixed states in quantum mechanics, offering novel insights into its role within this framework.
Relation between Bopp-Kubo formulation and Weyl-Wigner-Moyal symbol calculus, and non-commutative geometry interpretation of the phase space representation of quantum mechanics are studied. Harmonic oscillator in phase space via creation and annihilation operators, both the usual and qqq-deformed, is investigated. We found that the Bopp-Kubo formulation is just non-commuting coordinates representation of the symbol calculus. The Wigner operator for the qqq-deformed harmonic oscillator is shown to be proportional to the 3-axis spherical angular momentum operator of the algebra suq(2)su_{q}(2)suq​(2). The relation of the Fock space for the harmonic oscillator and double Hilbert space of the Gelfand-Naimark-Segal construction is established. The quantum extension of the classical ergodiicity condition is proposed.
We present a phase space formulation of quantum mechanics in the Schrödinger representation and derive the associated Weyl pseudo-differential calculus. We prove that the resulting theory is unitarily equivalent to the standard "configuration space" formulation and show that it allows for a uniform treatment of both pure and mixed quantum states. In the second part of the paper we determine the unitary transformation (and its infinitesimal generator) that maps the phase space Schrödinger representation into another (called Moyal) representation, where the wave function is the cross-Wigner function familiar from deformation quantization. Some features of this representation are studied, namely the associated pseudo-differential calculus and the main spectral and dynamical results. Finally, the relation with deformation quantization is discussed.
Motivated by some well-known results in the phase space description of quantum optics and quantum information theory, we aim to describe the formalism of quantum field theory by explicitly considering the holomorphic representation for a scalar field within the deformation quantization program. Notably, the symbol of a symmetric ordered operator in terms of holomorphic variables may be straightforwardly obtained by the quantum field analogue of the Husimi distribution associated with a normal ordered operator. This relation also allows to establish a [Formula: see text]-equivalence between the Moyal and the normal star-products. In addition, by writing the density operator in terms of coherent states we are able to directly introduce a series representation of the Wigner functional distribution, which may be convenient in order to calculate probability distributions of quantum field observables without performing formal phase space integrals at all.
The displaced parity operators are shown to have properties that bear a deep relationship with those of the Wigner functions. By exploiting these properties we show that these operators play an important role in linking together many of the aspects of the various exact phase-space mappings of quantum mechanics. These include the Wigner and Weyl representations, coherent states and the Bargmann representation, the P and Q representations, the Weyl correspondence, and the Moyal star product formalism. We also introduce corresponding displaced Fourier operators and show that their squares are just the displaced parity operators. The formalism is extended to squeezed and displaced parity operators, and their corresponding central role in the theory of squeezed coherent states and general squeezing is explained. We also elucidate the part played by the displaced parity operators in the Moyal star product and its extensions, as a first step towards a potential application of these operators in such modern developments as deformation theory and quantum groups. Finally, we indicate how the apparatus developed might also find applications in other recent exact classical mappings of many-particle quantum mechanics or quantum field theory, which are not special cases of deformation theory. Prime examples here include the powerful so-called independent-cluster method techniques, which incorporate the coupled-cluster method formalism with its inbuilt supercoherent states. Throughout the work we stress the central and unifying role played by the displaced parity operator and its generalizations.
The paper develop the alternative formulation of quantum mechanics known as the phase space quantum mechanics or deformation quantization. It is shown that the quantization naturally arises as an appropriate deformation of the classical Hamiltonian mechanics. More precisely, the deformation of the point-wise product of observables to an appropriate noncommutative ⋆\star⋆-product and the deformation of the Poisson bracket to an appropriate Lie bracket is the key element in introducing the quantization of classical Hamiltonian systems. The considered class of deformations and the corresponding ⋆\star⋆-products contains as a special cases all deformations which can be found in the literature devoted to the subject of the phase space quantum mechanics. Fundamental properties of ⋆\star⋆-products of observables, associated with the considered deformations are presented as well. Moreover, a space of states containing all admissible states is introduced, where the admissible states are appropriate pseudo-probability distributions defined on the phase space. It is proved that the space of states is endowed with a structure of a Hilbert algebra with respect to the ⋆\star⋆-multiplication. The most important result of the paper shows that developed formalism is more fundamental then the axiomatic ordinary quantum mechanics which appears in the presented approach as the intrinsic element of the general formalism. The equivalence of two formulations of quantum mechanics is proved by observing that the Wigner-Moyal transform has all properties of the tensor product. This observation allows writing many previous results found in the literature in a transparent way, from which the equivalence of the two formulations of quantum mechanics follows naturally.
This is a text on quantum mechanics formulated simultaneously in terms of position and momentum, i.e. in phase space. It is written at an introductory level, drawing on the remarkable history of the subject for inspiration and motivation. Wigner functions density -- matrices in a special Weyl representation -- and star products are the cornerstones of the formalism. The resulting framework is a rich source of physical intuition. It has been used to describe transport in quantum optics, structure and dynamics in nuclear physics, chaos, and decoherence in quantum computing. It is also of importance in signal processing and the mathematics of algebraic deformation. A remarkable aspect of its internal logic, pioneered by Groenewold and Moyal, has only emerged in the last quarter-century: it furnishes a third, alternative way to formulate and understand quantum mechanics, independent of the conventional Hilbert space or path integral approaches to the subject. In this logically complete and self-standing formulation, one need not choose sides between coordinate or momentum space variables. It works in full phase-space, accommodating the uncertainty principle; and it offers unique insights into the classical limit of quantum theory. The observables in this formulation are c-number functions in phase space instead of operators, with the same interpretation as their classical counterparts, only composed together in novel algebraic ways using star products. This treatise provides an introductory overview and supplementary material suitable for an advanced undergraduate or a beginning graduate course in quantum mechanics. Readership: Advanced undergraduates and graduates studying quantum mechanics.