The primary motivation for Moyal's approach to quantum mechanics was to develop a phase space formalism for quantum phenomena by generalising the techniques of classical probability theory. To this end, Moyal introduced a quantum version of the characteristic function which immediately provides a probability distribution. The approach is sometimes perceived negatively merely as an attempt to return to classical notions, but the mathematics Moyal develops is simply a re-expression of what is at the heart of quantum mechanics, namely the non-commutative algebraic structure first introduced by von Neumann in 1931. In this paper we will establish this relation and show that the "distribution function", F(P,X,t) is simply the quantum mechanical density matrix for a single particle. The coordinates, X and P, are not the coordinates of the particle but the mean co-ordinates of a cell structure (a `blob') in phase space, giving an intrinsically non-local description of each individual particle, which becomes a point in the limit to order
ℏ2. We discuss the significance of this non-commutative structure on the symplectic geometry of the phase space for quantum processes.
In the Wigner-Moyal approach to quantum mechanics, we show that Moyal's starting point, the characteristic function
M(τ,θ)=∫ψ∗(x)ei(τp^+θx^)ψ(x)dx, is essentially the primitive idempotent used by von Neumann in his classic paper "Die Eindeutigkeit der Schrödingerschen Operatoren". This paper provides the original proof of the Stone-von Neumann equation. Thus the mathematical structure Moyal develops is simply a re-expression of what is at the heart of quantum mechanics and reproduces exactly the results of the quantum formalism. The "distribution function"
F(X,P,t) is simply the quantum mechanical density matrix expressed in an
(X,P)-representation, where
X and
P are the mean co-ordinates of a cell structure in phase space. The whole approach therefore clearly has little to do with classical statistical theories but is a consequence of a non-commutative nature of the theory.
The von Neumann evolution equation for density matrix and the Moyal equation for the Wigner function are mapped onto evolution equation for optical tomogram of quantum state. The connection with known evolution equation for symplectic tomogram of the quantum state is clarified. The stationary states corresponding to quantum energy levels are associated with the probability representation of the von Neumann and Moyal equations written for the optical tomograms. Classical Liouville equation for optical tomogram is obtained. Example of parametric oscillator is considered in detail.