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理论物理通讯：英文版

A No—Go Theorem for Nonlinear Canonical Quantization

MiroslayEnglis

Published Jan 1, 2002• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We want to point out thc following strcngthcning of the classical theorem of Grocnewold and van Hove:There exists no ,napping Op from polynomial observables f (p, q) on the phase space R2n into linear operators on L2(Rn)which would map Poisson brackets into commutators, the position and momentum obscrvablcs p and q into the usual(Schrodinger) position and momentum operators, and would obey the yon Neumann rifle 0p(cfk) = c 0p(f)k for k = 1,2, 3and c R. The point is that neither linearity, nor continuity etc. of Op are assumed.

Related papers

A No-Go Theorem for Nonlinear Canonical Quantization

Miroslav Engliš

We want to point out the following strengthening of the classical theorem of Groenewold and van Hove: There exists no mapping Op from polynomial observables on the phase space into linear operators on which would map Poisson brackets into commutators, the position and momentum observables p and q into the usual (Schrödinger) position and momentum operators, and would obey the von Neumann rule for and . The point is that neither linearity, nor continuity etc. of Op are assumed.

Communications in Theoretical Physics•Mar 15, 2002•3 citations

Bypassing the Groenewold–van Hove obstruction on ${{\mathbb{R}}}^{2n}$: a new argument in favor of Born–Jordan quantization

Maurice A de Gosson

There are known obstructions to a full quantization of in the spirit of Dirac's approach, the most known being the Groenewold and van Hove no-go result. We show, following a suggestion of S K Kauffmann, that it is possible to construct a well-defined quantization procedure by weakening the usual requirement that commutators should correspond to Poisson brackets. The weaker requirement consists in demanding that this correspondence should only hold for Hamiltonian functions of the type . This reformulation leads to a non-injective quantization of all observables which, when restricted to polynomials, is the rule proposed by Born and Jordan in the early days of quantum mechanics.

arXiv:1604.07754•Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical•Sep 2, 2016•2 citations

On the Classical-Quantum Relation of Constants of Motion

Fabián Belmonte, Tomás Veloz

Groenewold-Van Hove theorem suggest that is not always possible to transform classical observables into quantum observables (a process known as quantization) in a way that, for all Hamiltonians, the constants of motion are preserved. The latter is a strong shortcoming for the ultimate goal of quantization, as one would expect that the notion of ``constants of motion" is independent of the chosen physical scheme. It has been recently developed an approach to quantization that instead of mapping every classical observable into a quantum observable, it focuses on mapping the constants of motion themselves. In this article we will discuss the relations between classical and quantum theory under the light of this new form of quantization. In particular, we will examine the mapping of a class of operators that generalizes angular momentum where quantization satisfies the usual desirable properties.

Frontiers in Physics•Nov 13, 2018•0 citations

Emergent classicality via commuting position and momentum operators

J. J. Halliwell

Any account of the emergence of classicality from quantum theory must address the fact that the quantum operators representing positions and momenta do not commute, whereas their classical counterparts suffer no such restrictions. To address this, we revive an old idea of von Neumann, and seek a pair of commuting operators X, P which are, in a specific sense, "close" to the canonical non-commuting position and momentum operators, x,p. The construction of such operators is related to the problem of finding complete sets of orthonormal phase space localized states, a problem severely limited by the Balian-Low theorem. Here these limitations are avoided by restricting attention to situations in which the density matrix is reasonably decohered (i.e., spread out in phase space).

arXiv:0903.1799•Journal of Physics Conference Series•Jun 1, 2009•0 citations

Bypassing no-go theorems on mixed classical-quantum systems: the (counter)example of hybrid van Hove theory

Marcel Reginatto, Andrés Darío Bermúdez Manjarres, Sebastian Ulbricht

Motivated by models of mixed quantum-classical hybrid theories, we consider the representation of classical observables as Hilbert-space operators based on van Hove's unitary representation of contact transformations. This leads to a reformulation of classical mechanics where the phase space density satisfies the Liouville equation and, more importantly, classical observables are represented by van Hove operators that satisfy a commutation algebra isomorphic to the classical Poisson algebra of functions in phase space. Thus, this Hilbert space approach captures all the essential features of the phase space formulation of classical mechanics in that it reproduces its algebraic structure -- something that is not achieved by other approaches such as the Koopman-von Neumann theory. As an important feature, the definition of appropriate physical states in this formalism imposes certain natural requirements on the phase of the classical wave function, which ensure correct expectation values for the observables. Furthermore, we discuss how to extend the approach to the hybrid van Hove theory of mixed classical-quantum systems and illustrate its application with the example of interacting classical and quantum oscillators. Finally, we focus on the question of how hybrid van Hove theory evades no-go theorems on mixed classical-quantum systems and point to the various assumptions of the no-go theorems that do not apply to our approach. This demonstrates that these no-go theorems are not universally applicable, contrary to their original claims.

quant-pharXiv:2609.31209•Sep 28, 2026•0 citations

No-Go theorems and quantization

Hishamuddin B Zainuddin, Toh Sing Poh, Nurisya Mohd Shah +4 more

In this review, we would like to highlight the three known no-go theorems in quantum physics in relation to the processof quantization that maps classical observables to quantum ones. The quantization approach considered is a mixture ofIsham’s group-theoretic quantization and geometric quantization with special emphasis on underlying compact phasespace geometry of spheres. The first is Groenewold-van Hove theorem that states the obstruction of quantizing the fullalgebra of observables and in the sphere case, only limited to the spin observables plus the constant functions. Theother two are theorems of Bell and Kochen-Specker stating that the only hidden variable theories allowed by quantumphysics are nonlocal and contextual ones. We give simple examples of these no-go theorems and indicate someinteresting problems arising from them for the field of quantization.

Malaysian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Sciences•Jun 16, 2014•1 citation
We want to point out thc following strcngthcning of the classical theorem of Grocnewold and van Hove:There exists no ,napping Op from polynomial observables f (p, q) on the phase space R2n into linear operators on L2(Rn)which would map Poisson brackets into commutators, the position and momentum obscrvablcs p and q into the usual(Schrodinger) position and momentum operators, and would obey the yon Neumann rifle 0p(cfk) = c 0p(f)k for k = 1,2, 3and c R. The point is that neither linearity, nor continuity etc. of Op are assumed.
Bypassing the Groenewold–van Hove obstruction on R2n{{\mathbb{R}}}^{2n}R2n: a new argument in favor of Born–Jordan quantization
There are known obstructions to a full quantization of in the spirit of Dirac's approach, the most known being the Groenewold and van Hove no-go result. We show, following a suggestion of S K Kauffmann, that it is possible to construct a well-defined quantization procedure by weakening the usual requirement that commutators should correspond to Poisson brackets. The weaker requirement consists in demanding that this correspondence should only hold for Hamiltonian functions of the type . This reformulation leads to a non-injective quantization of all observables which, when restricted to polynomials, is the rule proposed by Born and Jordan in the early days of quantum mechanics.
Groenewold-Van Hove theorem suggest that is not always possible to transform classical observables into quantum observables (a process known as quantization) in a way that, for all Hamiltonians, the constants of motion are preserved. The latter is a strong shortcoming for the ultimate goal of quantization, as one would expect that the notion of ``constants of motion" is independent of the chosen physical scheme. It has been recently developed an approach to quantization that instead of mapping every classical observable into a quantum observable, it focuses on mapping the constants of motion themselves. In this article we will discuss the relations between classical and quantum theory under the light of this new form of quantization. In particular, we will examine the mapping of a class of operators that generalizes angular momentum where quantization satisfies the usual desirable properties.
Any account of the emergence of classicality from quantum theory must address the fact that the quantum operators representing positions and momenta do not commute, whereas their classical counterparts suffer no such restrictions. To address this, we revive an old idea of von Neumann, and seek a pair of commuting operators X, P which are, in a specific sense, "close" to the canonical non-commuting position and momentum operators, x,p. The construction of such operators is related to the problem of finding complete sets of orthonormal phase space localized states, a problem severely limited by the Balian-Low theorem. Here these limitations are avoided by restricting attention to situations in which the density matrix is reasonably decohered (i.e., spread out in phase space).
Motivated by models of mixed quantum-classical hybrid theories, we consider the representation of classical observables as Hilbert-space operators based on van Hove's unitary representation of contact transformations. This leads to a reformulation of classical mechanics where the phase space density satisfies the Liouville equation and, more importantly, classical observables are represented by van Hove operators that satisfy a commutation algebra isomorphic to the classical Poisson algebra of functions in phase space. Thus, this Hilbert space approach captures all the essential features of the phase space formulation of classical mechanics in that it reproduces its algebraic structure -- something that is not achieved by other approaches such as the Koopman-von Neumann theory. As an important feature, the definition of appropriate physical states in this formalism imposes certain natural requirements on the phase of the classical wave function, which ensure correct expectation values for the observables. Furthermore, we discuss how to extend the approach to the hybrid van Hove theory of mixed classical-quantum systems and illustrate its application with the example of interacting classical and quantum oscillators. Finally, we focus on the question of how hybrid van Hove theory evades no-go theorems on mixed classical-quantum systems and point to the various assumptions of the no-go theorems that do not apply to our approach. This demonstrates that these no-go theorems are not universally applicable, contrary to their original claims.
In this review, we would like to highlight the three known no-go theorems in quantum physics in relation to the processof quantization that maps classical observables to quantum ones. The quantization approach considered is a mixture ofIsham’s group-theoretic quantization and geometric quantization with special emphasis on underlying compact phasespace geometry of spheres. The first is Groenewold-van Hove theorem that states the obstruction of quantizing the fullalgebra of observables and in the sphere case, only limited to the spin observables plus the constant functions. Theother two are theorems of Bell and Kochen-Specker stating that the only hidden variable theories allowed by quantumphysics are nonlocal and contextual ones. We give simple examples of these no-go theorems and indicate someinteresting problems arising from them for the field of quantization.