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Line bundles and integrality conditions in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory

Dae Gyu Choi

Published Jan 1, 1988• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

A complete theory for the line bundle structure in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory is given. This includes a general method for constructing curvature terms and flat connection terms. The necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of the integrality condition is obtained. The role of torsion parts in the first homology group of the configuration space is clarified. A possible extension to the higher dimensional vector bundle and its physical meanings are considered, too. Finally many physically interesting applications are given to illustrate our theory_ In particular, the local and global anomalies and other related topics including Berry's phase are discussed.

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A complete theory for the line bundle structure in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory is given. This includes a general method for constructing curvature terms and flat connection terms. The necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of the integrality condition is obtained. The role of torsion parts in the first homology group of the configuration space is clarified. A possible extension to the higher dimensional vector bundle and its physical meanings are considered, too. Finally many physically interesting applications are given to illustrate our theory_ In particular, the local and global anomalies and other related topics including Berry's phase are discussed.
The geometric properties of quantum states are crucial for understanding many physical phenomena in quantum mechanics, condensed matter physics, and optics. The central object describing these properties is the quantum geometric tensor, which unifies the Berry curvature and the quantum metric. In this work, we use the differential-geometric framework of vector bundles to analyze the properties of parameter-dependent quantum states and generalize the quantum geometric tensor to this setting. This construction is based on a general connection on a Hermitian vector bundle, which defines a notion of quantum state transport in parameter space, and a sub-bundle projector, which constrains the set of accessible quantum states. We show that the sub-bundle geometry is similar to that of submanifolds in Riemannian geometry and is described by generalized Gauss-Codazzi-Mainardi equations. This leads to a novel definition of the quantum geometric tensor that contains an additional curvature contribution. To illustrate our results, we describe the sub-bundle geometry arising in the semiclassical treatment of Dirac fields propagating in curved spacetime and show how the quantum geometric tensor, with its additional curvature contributions, is obtained in this case. As a concrete example, we consider Dirac fermions confined to a hyperbolic plane and demonstrate how spatial curvature influences the quantum geometry. This work sets the stage for further exploration of quantum systems in curved geometries, with applications in both high-energy physics and condensed matter systems.
We propose a new systematic fibre bundle formulation of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. The new form of the theory is equivalent to the usual one and is in harmony with the modern trends in theoretical physics and potentially admits new generalizations in different directions. In it the Hilbert space of a quantum system (from conventional quantum mechanics) is replaced with an appropriate Hilbert bundle of states and a pure state of the system is described by a lifting of paths or sections along paths in this bundle. The evolution of a pure state is determined through the bundle (analogue of the) Schrödinger equation. Now the dynamical variables and density operators are described via liftings of paths or morphisms along paths in suitable bundles. The mentioned quantities are connected by a number of relations derived in this paper. In the third part of our series we investigate the bundle analogues of the conventional pictures of motion. In particular, we find the state liftings and observable liftings corresponding to state vectors and observables respectively in the different pictures of motion. The equations of motion for these quantities are derived. Using the results obtained, problems concerning the integrals of motion are considered from the bundle viewpoint. Necessary and sufficient invariant bundle conditions for a dynamical variable to be an integral of motion are found.
A geometric framework for describing quantum particles on a possibly curved background is proposed. Natural constructions on certain distributional bundles ("quantum bundles") over the space–time manifold yield a quantum "formalism" along any 1-dimensional timelike submanifold (a "detector"); in the flat, inertial case this reproduces the basic results of the usual quantum field theory, while in general it could be seen as a local, "linearized" description of the actual physics.
Coherent quantum physics is quantum physics in terms of a coherent space and an appropriate coherent product. The kinematical structure and the meaning of the quantities are given by the symmetries (invertible coherent maps) of the coherent space. If Z is a coherent manifold, a canonical symplectic form is often canonically determined by the coherent product through the coherent action principle discussed in Section 6.1. In a quantum mechanical context, Z is indeed a classical phase space or an extended phase space-typically a symplectic manifold, a Poisson manifold, or a circle or line bundle over such a manifold that incorporates the classical action variable (encoding the Berry phase under quantization). For example, the Aharonov-Bohm effect [3] needs the bundle formulation. A coherent space and its quantum space provide a classical and a quantum view of the same physical system, discussed in Section 6.2. Section 6.3 shows that symmetries of coherent spaces can be quantized, that is, promoted to linear operators on the quantum space. This leads to quantum dynamics, which in special (completely integrable) situations can be solved in closed form in terms of classical motions on the underlying coherent space, if the latter has a compatible manifold structure. Close relations to concepts from geometric quantization and Kähler manifolds are pointed out in Section 6.4. In order that the quantum space of a coherent space Z can describe physics, one needs not only a distinguished class of coherent states but a more general concept of state. In Sections 6.5-6.6, we give a general abstract setting for states in Lie ∗-algebras, emphasize the essential mathematical features and the close analogy between classical and quantum physics. We illustrate these generalities with a number of examples in Section 6.7. The coherent action principle is put to use in Section 6.8 for numerical quantum physics and an application to quantum chaos. Spectral issues can, in favorable cases, be handled in terms of dynamical Lie algebras, discussed in Section 6.9.
We propose a new systematic fibre bundle formulation of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. The new form of the theory is equivalent to the usual one and is in harmony with the modern trends in theoretical physics and potentially admits new generalizations in different directions. In it the Hilbert space of a quantum system (from conventional quantum mechanics) is replaced with an appropriate Hilbert bundle of states and a pure state of the system is described by a lifting of paths or section along paths in this bundle. The evolution of a pure state is determined through the bundle (analog of the) Schrödinger equation. Now the dynamical variables and density operator are described via liftings of paths or morphisms along paths in suitable bundles. The mentioned quantities are connected by a number of relations derived in this work. This is the fifth, closing, part of our investigation. We briefly discuss the observer's role in the theory and different realizations of the space–time model used as a base space in the bundle approach to quantum mechanics. The exact conditions for the equivalence of Hilbert bundle and Hilbert space formulations of the theory are pointed out. A table of comparison between both descriptions of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics is presented. We discuss some principal moments of the Hilbert bundle description and show that as a scheme it is more general than the Hilbert space one. Different directions for further research are pointed out.
Investigations into the nature of the principle of least action have shown that there is an intrinsic relationship between geometrical and topological methods and the variational principle in classical mechanics. In this work, we follow and extend this kind of mathematical analysis into the domain of quantum mechanics. First, we show that the identification of the momentum of a quantum particle with the de Broglie wavelength in 2-dimensional space would lead to an interesting feature; namely the action principle S=0 would be satisfied not only by the stationary path, corresponding to the classical motion, but also by any path. Thereupon the Bohr quantum condition possesses a topological character in the sense that the principal quantum number is identified with the winding number, which is used to represent the fundamental group of paths. We extend our discussions into 3-dimensional space and show that the charge of a particle also possesses a topological character and is quantised and classified by the homotopy group of closed surfaces. We then discuss the possibility to extend our discussions into spaces with higher dimensions and show that there exist physical quantities that can be quantised by the higher homotopy groups. Finally we note that if Einstein’s field equations of general relativity are derived from Hilbert’s action through the principle of least action then for the case of n=2 the field equations are satisfied by any metric if the energy-momentum tensor is identified with the metric tensor, similar to the case when the momentum of a particle is identified with the curvature of the particle’s path.