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Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A Mathematical and Physical Sciences

Quantal phase factors accompanying adiabatic changes

Michael Berry

Published Mar 8, 1984• 9,250 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract A quantal system in an eigenstate, slowly transported round a circuit C by varying parameters R in its Hamiltonian Ĥ(R), will acquire a geometrical phase factor exp{iγ(C)} in addition to the familiar dynamical phase factor. An explicit general formula for γ(C) is derived in terms of the spectrum and eigenstates of Ĥ(R) over a surface spanning C. If C lies near a degeneracy of Ĥ, γ(C) takes a simple form which includes as a special case the sign change of eigenfunctions of real symmetric matrices round a degeneracy. As an illustration γ(C) is calculated for spinning particles in slowly-changing magnetic fields; although the sign reversal of spinors on rotation is a special case, the effect is predicted to occur for bosons as well as fermions, and a method for observing it is proposed. It is shown that the Aharonov-Bohm effect can be interpreted as a geometrical phase factor.

DOI
10.1098/rspa.1984.0023

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Physical Review A•Nov 1, 1990•2 citations
Abstract A quantal system in an eigenstate, slowly transported round a circuit C by varying parameters R in its Hamiltonian Ĥ(R), will acquire a geometrical phase factor exp{iγ(C)} in addition to the familiar dynamical phase factor. An explicit general formula for γ(C) is derived in terms of the spectrum and eigenstates of Ĥ(R) over a surface spanning C. If C lies near a degeneracy of Ĥ, γ(C) takes a simple form which includes as a special case the sign change of eigenfunctions of real symmetric matrices round a degeneracy. As an illustration γ(C) is calculated for spinning particles in slowly-changing magnetic fields; although the sign reversal of spinors on rotation is a special case, the effect is predicted to occur for bosons as well as fermions, and a method for observing it is proposed. It is shown that the Aharonov-Bohm effect can be interpreted as a geometrical phase factor.
By defining ``a virtual gap'' for the continuous spectrum through the notion of eigendifferential (Weyl's packet) and using the differential projector operator, we present a rigorous demonstration and discussion of the quantum adiabatic theorem and the validity condition of the adiabatic approximation for systems having a nondegenerate continuous spectrum. We show that a quantal system in an eigenstate, of operators with a continuous nondegenerate eigenvalue spectrum, slowly transported around a closed curve CCC by varying parameters in its Hamiltonian, will acquire a generalized geometrical phase factor where an explicit formula is derived in terms of the eigenstates of the Hamiltonian. Examples are given for illustration.
Abstract The exponentially small probability of transition between two quantum states, induced by the slow change over infinite time of an analytic hamiltonian Ĥ = H(δt). Ŝ ( where δ is a small adiabatic parameter and Ŝ is the Vector spin -½ operator), contains an additional factor exp{ᴦg} of purely geometric origin (that is, independent of δ and ħ). For ᴦg to be non-zero, Ĥ must be complex hermitian rather than real symmetric, and the hamiltonian curve H(ז) must not lie in a plane through the origin nor be a helix identical (up to rigid motion) with its time reverse. An expression is given for ᴦg, as an integral from the real t axis to the complex time of degeneracy of the two states. Explicit examples are given. The geometric effect could be observed in experiments with spinning particles.
A semiclassical connection is established between quantal and classical properties of a system whose Hamiltonian is slowly cycled by varying its parameters round a circuit. The quantal property is a geometrical phase shift gamma n associated with an eigenstate with quantum numbers n=(n l ); the classical property is a shift Delta theta l (I) in the lth angle variable for motion round a phase-space torus with actions I=(I l ); the connection is Delta theta l =- delta gamma / delta n l . Two applications are worked out in detail: the generalised harmonic oscillator, with quadratic Hamiltonian whose parameters are the coefficients of q 2 , qp and p 2 ; and the rotated rotator, consisting of a particle sliding freely round a non-circular hoop slowly turned round once in its own plane.
According to Berry, quantum states of a hamiltonian which varies adiabatically through a circuit C in parameter space may acquire geometrical phase factors exp (iγ(C)) in addition to the normal dynamical phase factors exp ((-i/ħ) ∝ E(t) dt). We present N.M.R. experiments in the rotating frame which bear out these predictions for simple conical circuits, and point out that they are related to familiar behaviour based on the classical Bloch equations and on Haeberlen-Waugh coherent averaging theory. Extensions to coupled spins and electric quadrupolar effects are discussed.
Quantum eigenstates undergoing cyclic changes acquire a phase factor of geometric origin. This phase, known as the Berry phase, or the geometric phase, has found applications in a wide range of disciplines throughout physics, including atomic and molecular physics, condensed matter physics, optics, and classical dynamics. In this article, the basic theory of the geometric phase is presented along with a number of representative applications. The article begins with an account of the geometric phase for cyclic adiabatic evolutions. An elementary derivation is given along with a worked example for two-state systems. The implications of time-reversal are explained, as is the fundamental connection between the geometric phase and energy level degeneracies. We also discuss methods of experimental observation. A brief account is given of geometric magnetism; this is a Lorenz-like force of geometric origin which appears in the dynamics of slow systems coupled to fast ones. A number of theoretical developments of the geometric phase are presented. These include an informal discussion of fibre bundles, and generalizations of the geometric phase to degenerate eigenstates (the nonabelian case) and to nonadiabatic evolution. There follows an account of applications. Manifestations in classical physics include the Hannay angle and kinematic geometric phases. Applications in optics concern polarization dynamics, including the theory and observation of Pancharatnam's phase. Applications in molecular physics include the molecular Aharonov-Bohm effect and nuclear magnetic resonance studies. In condensed matter physics, we discuss the role of the geometric phase in the theory of the quantum Hall effect.
The full effect of adiabatically varying Hamiltonians on systems prepared in eigenstates of the stationary Hamiltonian often includes geometric Berry's phases. For degenerate systems these effects may result in transitions between distinct degenerate eigenstates that can be described in terms of a non-Abelian gauge potential. I demonstrate the explicit dynamic origin of such transitions between degenerate angular-momentum sublevels in an atom that is subject to collinear electric and magnetic fields that rotate adiabatically. The origin of the effects becomes clear when eigenstates of the total Hamiltonian, which includes the rotating fields, are calculated. The total Hamiltonian removes the degeneracy, and the eigenstates are in some cases linear combinations of the angular-momentum sublevels. Thus a system prepared in a specific sublevel may not remain in that sublevel, and the transition probability is exactly that given by an analysis of the geometric phase.