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Communications in Theoretical Physics

An Enlarged Canonical Quantization Scheme and Quantization of a Free Particle on Two-Dimensional Sphere

Zhong-Shuai 中帅 Zhang 张, Shi-Fa Xiao, Damao Xun, Quanhui Liu

Published Jan 1, 2015• 16 citations

Abstract

For a non-relativistic particle that freely moves on a curved surface, the fundamental commutation relations between positions and momenta are insufficient to uniquely determine the operator form of the momenta. With introduction of more commutation relations between positions and Hamiltonian and those between momenta and Hamiltonian, our recent sequential studies imply that the Cartesian system of coordinates is physically preferable, consistent with Dirac' observation. In present paper, we study quantization problem of the motion constrained on the two-dimensional sphere and develop a discriminant that can be used to show how the quantization within the intrinsic geometry is improper. Two kinds of parameterization of the spherical surface are explicitly invoked to investigate the quantization problem within the intrinsic geometry.

DOI: 10.1088/0253-6102/63/1/04

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For a non-relativistic particle that freely moves on a curved surface, the fundamental commutation relations between positions and momenta are insufficient to uniquely determine the operator form of the momenta. With introduction of more commutation relations between positions and Hamiltonian and those between momenta and Hamiltonian, our recent sequential studies imply that the Cartesian system of coordinates is physically preferable, consistent with Dirac' observation. In present paper, we study quantization problem of the motion constrained on the two-dimensional sphere and develop a discriminant that can be used to show how the quantization within the intrinsic geometry is improper. Two kinds of parameterization of the spherical surface are explicitly invoked to investigate the quantization problem within the intrinsic geometry.

In Dirac's canonical quantization theory on systems with second-class constraints, the commutators between the position, momentum, and Hamiltonian form a set of algebraic relations that are fundamental in construction of both the quantum momentum and the Hamiltonian. For a free particle on a two-dimensional sphere or a spherical top, results show that the well-known canonical momentum ${p}_{\ensuremath{\theta}}$ breaks one of the relations, while three components of the momentum expressed in the three-dimensional Cartesian system of axes as

{p}_{i}

(i=1,2,3)

are satisfactory all around. This momentum is not only geometrically invariant but also self-adjoint, and we call it geometric momentum. The nontrivial commutators between

{p}_{i}

generate three components of the orbital angular momentum; thus the geometric momentum is fundamental to the angular one. We note that there are five different forms of the geometric momentum proposed in the current literature, but only one of them turns out to be meaningful.

Dirac-bracket quantization of the nonrelativistic particle whose motion is constrained on the hypersurface f(x)=const embedded in a general curved space is discussed. The noncanonical nature of commutation relations makes it difficult to obtain the coordinate representation. Then the system with the derivative-type constraint df(x)/dt=0 is alternatively quantized, treating carefully the operator-ordering problem. In this system it is shown that there exist no constraints on coordinates and momenta and that one can thus have a straightforward representation, which leads, in turn, to the representation and the Schr\"odinger equation in the former system.

The dynamical system of a point particle constrained on a torus is quantized à la Dirac with two kinds of coordinate systems respectively; the Cartesian and toric coordinate systems. In the Cartesian coordinate system, it is difficult to express momentum operators in coordinate representation owing to the complication in structure of the commutation relations between canonical variables. In the toric coordinate system, the commutation relations have a simple form and their solutions in coordinate representation are easily obtained with, furthermore, two quantum Hamiltonians turning up. A problem comes out when the coordinate system is transformed, after quantization, from the Cartesian to the toric coordinate system.

Abstract A fundamental problem regarding the Dirac quantization of a free particle on an ( ) curved hypersurface embedded in N flat space is the impossibility to give the same form of the curvature‐induced quantum potential, the geometric potential as commonly called, as that given by the Schrödinger equation method where the particle moves in a region confined by a thin‐layer sandwiching the surface. This problem is resolved by means of a previously proposed scheme that hypothesizes a simultaneous quantization of positions, momenta, and Hamiltonian, among which the operator‐ordering‐free section is identified and is then found sufficient to lead to the expected form of geometric potential.

For describing particles moving on the two dimensional curved surfaces, we can use either the intrinsic local coordinates or the Cartesian coordinates. The representation of the momentum operators differs from each other in these two kinds of coordinates, the former ones depend on the intrinsic geometrical quantities, but the latter case depend on a geometrical invariant, namely the mean curvature. Taking the operator-ordering problem into consideration, the kinetic operator for the former case can be expressed in a possibly unique way, while that for latter case can be expressed in two different ways.