For a single degree of freedom confined mechanical system with given energy, we know that the motion is always periodic and action-angle variables are convenient choice as conjugate phase-space variables. We construct action-angle coherent states in view to provide a quantization scheme that yields precisely a given observed energy spectrum { E n } for such a system. This construction is based on a Bayesian approach: each family corresponds to a choice of probability distributions such that the classical energy averaged with respect to this probability distribution is precisely E n up to a constant shift. The formalism is viewed as a natural extension of the Bohr-Sommerfeld rule and an alternative to the canonical quantization. In particular, it also yields a satisfactory angle operator as a bounded self-adjoint operator.
For a system with one degree of freedom, coherent states that are parametrized by classical canonical action-angle variables are introduced. These states also possess continuity of labelling, a resolution of unity, and temporal stability. The insistence on canonical action-angle variables strongly restricts any remaining arbitrariness in the coherent state definition. Such states are introduced for semibounded Hamiltonian operators having either a discrete or a continuous spectrum. Hamiltonians that have both discrete and continuous parts in their spectrum are also discussed.
The quantum-mechanical description of phase and angle variables is reviewed, with emphasis on the proper mathematical description of these coordinates. The relations among the operators and state vectors under consideration are clarified in the context of the Heisenberg uncertainty relations. The familiar case of the azimuthal angle variable $\ensuremath{\phi}$ and its "conjugate" angular momentum
Lz is discussed. Various pitfalls associated with the periodicity problem are avoided by employing periodic variables ($sin\ensuremath{\phi}$ and $cos\ensuremath{\phi}$ to describe the phase variable. Well-defined uncertainty relations are derived and discussed. A detailed analysis of the three-dimensional harmonic oscillator excited in coherent states is given. A detailed analysis of the simple harmonic oscillator is given. The usual assumption that a (Hermitian) phase operator $\ensuremath{\varphi}$ (conjugate to the number operator
N) exists is shown to be erroneous. However, cosine and sine operators
C and
S exist and are the appr\'opriate phase variables. A Poisson bracket argument using action-angle (rather
J, $cos\ensuremath{\varphi}$, $sin\ensuremath{\varphi}$) variables is used to deduce
C and
S. The spectra and eigenfunctions of these operators are investigated, along with the important "phase-difference" periodic variables. The properties of the oscillator variables in the various types of states are analyzed with special attention to the uncertainty relations and the transition to the classical limit. The utility of coherent states as a basis for the description of the evolution of the density matrix is emphasized. In this basis it is easy to identify the classical Liouville equation in action-angle variables along with quantum-mechanical "corrections." Mention is made of possible physical applications to superfluid systems.
During the century of existence of the notion of coherent states, either linear or nonlinear, several schemes for their construction, theoretical or experimental, have been developed. Generally, the mathematical structure of coherent states depends on the choice of ladder operators, and consequently on the structure constants. In this paper, we propose a way to construct generalized coherent states for anharmonic oscillators that is based on a diagonal operator ordering technique (DOOT) applied to generalized hypergeometric functions, that is, on some of the most general special functions. These states are generated by the action of a pair of ladder operators, the creation and the annihilation, whose ordered normal product is equal to the dimensionless Hamiltonian of the quantum system. In addition, the action of these operators is easy to find if the expression for the dimensionless energy eigenvalues is known.