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Annals of Physics

Quantum Kinematic Approach to the Geometric Phase. II. The Case of Unitary Group Representations

Narasimhaiengar Mukunda, R. Simon

Published Dec 1, 1993• 53 citations
Publisher
DOI
10.1006/aphy.1993.1094

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The geometric phase in quantum mechanics was originally elucidated in the context of the adiabatic theorem. This and other limitations were later removed. We show how this phase can be presented as the simplest functional of smooth open curves of unit vectors in Hilbert space, invariant under the two groups of local phase changes and monotonic reparametrisations. This viewpoint clarifies the role of the early Pancharatnam criterion for two Hilbert space vectors to be `in phase', in the later geometric phase context. Noncyclic evolution is handled in a very direct manner. Connections to the Bargmann invariants of quantum mechanics are immediate and can be exploited. A class of geometric phases arises in connection with unitary representations of Lie groups. In this case a surprisingly complete analysis of the structure of the geometric phase is possible, motivated by the Wigner-Eckart theorem. The interplay between geometric phase ideas and Lie group unitary representations is extraordinarily rich; the differential geometric structures of Lie groups and coset spaces play very important roles and allow classification of all possible geometric phases associated with a given Lie group. Examples involving SU(2), SU(3) and the metaplectic group Mp(2) are presented.
The kinematics of quantum systems, as is well known, are generally governed by the Heisenberg commutation rules. It was Hermann Weyl who suggested the consideration of the global versions of these rules which define a projective unitary representation of the additive group of the classical phase space. This prompted Weyl to formulate his principle that quantum kinematics is always governed by a projective unitary representation of some abelian group. The ideas of Weyl, and their natural development by his successors, notably Stone, Von Neumann, Mackey, Segal, Shale, Weil, and many others have had and still continue to have a great impact on many areas of mathematics and physics. This paper is an exposition of some of the themes that flow from these ideas.
After a schematic examination of the ’’physical’’ representations of the Galilei group, a quantum mechanical description is drawn from a ’’laboratory’’ one in the case of a free elementary system with spin, assuming that the kinematical group is the Galilei group. In fact, the ’’laboratory states’’ of the system naturally fit in a Galilei−Hilbert bundle. Then, according to the general theory of the unitary representations of groups in the framework of Hilbert bundles which is outlined in this paper, a unitary representation of the Galilei group is constructed which is shown to contain all the physical Galilei representations. The quantum mechanical description which has been obtained in this way gives rise to an algebra of observables by means of a general procedure which connects a unitary representation of a Lie group with a Hilbert representation of the corresponding Lie algebra. The inner energy is shown to be a superobservable for the system under consideration. Moreover, the kinematical properties of such a system are independent of the values of the inner energy.