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Journal of Mathematical Physics

Semiclassical treatment of spin system by means of coherent states

Hernán Gustavo Solari

Published May 1, 1987• 61 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The semiclassical time-dependent propagator is studied in terms of the SU(2) coherent states for spin systems. The first- and second-order terms are obtained by means of a detailed calculation. While the first-order term was established in the earlier days of coherent states the second-order one is a subject of contradiction. The present approach is developed through a polygonal expansion of the discontinuous paths that enter the path integral. The results here presented are in agreement with only one of the previous approaches, i.e., the one developed on Glauber’s coherent states by means of a direct WKB approximation. It is shown that the present approach gives the exact result in a simple case where it is also possible to observe differences with previous works.

DOI
10.1063/1.527554

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The semiclassical time-dependent propagator is studied in terms of the SU(2) coherent states for spin systems. The first- and second-order terms are obtained by means of a detailed calculation. While the first-order term was established in the earlier days of coherent states the second-order one is a subject of contradiction. The present approach is developed through a polygonal expansion of the discontinuous paths that enter the path integral. The results here presented are in agreement with only one of the previous approaches, i.e., the one developed on Glauber’s coherent states by means of a direct WKB approximation. It is shown that the present approach gives the exact result in a simple case where it is also possible to observe differences with previous works.
Starting with path integrals in the SU(2) coherent state representation, the semiclassical approximation of the propagator for the spin system is investigated. By extending the idea of the semiclassical expansion method, which was developed in the usual phase-space path integrals, to the path integrals in the curved phase space, which is characteristic of the SU(2) coherent states, we obtain a closed form for the semiclassical propagator. As an application, we discuss the semiclassical quantization condition for the spin system.
This paper studies the classical propagator on Glauber’s coherent states in a generalized P-form. A full class of equivalent expressions labeled by a complex number is found through a direct WKB expansion. The study of matrix elements of the propagator between coherent states shows that they match Klauder’s classical expression but are in some disagreement in the semiclassical order with expression derived through path integral procedures. Arguments are given that favor the present results. The properties of the time propagator with respect to symmetry operations are stated. Possible extensions are briefly discussed.
Using the generalized coherent states it is shown that the path integral formulas for SU(2) and SU(1,1) (in the discrete series) are WKB exact, if it is started from the trace of e−iTĤ, where Ĥ is given by a linear combination of generators. In this case, the WKB approximation is achieved by taking a large ‘‘spin’’ limit: J,K→∞, under which it is found that each coefficient vanishes except the leading term which indeed gives the exact result. It is further pointed out that the discretized form of path integral is indispensable, in other words, the continuum path integral expression sometimes leads to a wrong result. Therefore great care must be taken when some geometrical action would be adopted, even if it is so beautiful as the starting ingredient of path integral. Discussions on generalized coherent states are also presented both from geometrical and simple oscillator (Schwinger boson) points of view.
The extremal paths that arise in the stationary phase evaluation of coherent state path integrals do not seem to have a simple physical interpretation, in contrast to the extremal paths that occur in the conventional path integrals. On the other hand, a recently derived semiclassical formula for the coherent state propagator involves a path that is determined in exactly the same manner as the extremal paths of the conventional path integrals. Since both the semiclassical and the stationary phase analyses yield asymptotic (h(cross) to 0) approximations, the stationary phase and the semiclassical expressions for the propagator should be identical. The author presents a simple and direct proof that, in spite of the apparent differences, this is indeed the case. The simplification in the semiclassical formula is due to the utilisation of an appropriate set of canonical variables to describe the classical dynamics. In order to illustrate the usefulness of the semiclassical formula they present an application to the problem of the degenerate parametric amplifier, which had been treated before by operator ordering and path integral methods. The semiclassical approach has a simple classical interpretation that is absent in the alternative treatments.
We present a complete derivation of the semiclassical limit of the coherent-state propagator in one dimension, starting from path integrals in phase space. We show that the arbitrariness in the path integral representation, which follows from the overcompleteness of the coherent states, results in many different semiclassical limits. We explicitly derive two possible semiclassical formulae for the propagator, we suggest a third one, and we discuss their relationships. We also derive an initial-value representation for the semiclassical propagator, based on an initial Gaussian wavepacket. It turns out to be related to, but different from, Heller's thawed Gaussian approximation. It is very different from the Herman-Kluk formula, which is not a correct semiclassical limit. We point out errors in two derivations of the latter. Finally we show how the semiclassical coherent-state propagators lead to WKB-type quantization rules and to approximations for the Husimi distributions of stationary states.
We compute the semiclassical coherent-state propagator for a particle moving in a one-dimensional box. In this semiclassical approach complex trajectories are stationary paths of the propagator's asymptotic expansion and play a fundamental role. A second semiclassical approximation is also introduced, which makes use of real trajectories only. An application to a seemingly simple system, the infinite well, is carried out completely for the diagonal elements, and a comparison is made among the three possible methods, those based on complex and real trajectories and the ``exact case'' that is determined by decomposing the propagator into its eigenstates. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.