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Quantum Mechanics with Difference Operators

V. K. Dobrev, H. D. Doebner, Reidun Twarock, Trieste (Italy) The Abdus Salam International Centre for the Theoretical Physics

Published Jan 1, 2002• 6 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

A formulation of quantum mechanics with additive and multiplicative ($q$-)difference operators instead of differential operators is studied from first principles. Borel-quantisation on smooth configuration spaces is used as guiding quantisation method. After a short discussion this method is translated step-by-step to a framework based on difference operators. To restrict the resulting plethora of possible quantisations additional assumptions motivated by simplicity and plausibility are required. Multiplicative difference operators and the corresponding $q$-Borel kinematics are given on the circle and its $N$-point discretisation; the connection to $q$-deformations of the Witt algebra is discussed. For a "natural" choice of the $q$-kinematics a corresponding $q$-difference evolution equation is obtained. This study shows general difficulties for a generalisation of a physical theory from a known one to a "new" framework.

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A formulation of quantum mechanics with additive and multiplicative (qqq-)difference operators instead of differential operators is studied from first principles. Borel-quantisation on smooth configuration spaces is used as guiding quantisation method. After a short discussion this method is translated step-by-step to a framework based on difference operators. To restrict the resulting plethora of possible quantisations additional assumptions motivated by simplicity and plausibility are required. Multiplicative difference operators and the corresponding qqq-Borel kinematics are given on the circle and its NNN-point discretisation; the connection to qqq-deformations of the Witt algebra is discussed. For a "natural" choice of the qqq-kinematics a corresponding qqq-difference evolution equation is obtained. This study shows general difficulties for a generalisation of a physical theory from a known one to a "new" framework.
About 15 years ago, we (Heinz-Dietrich Doebner and I) proposed a special type of nonlinear modification of the usual Schrödinger time-evolution equation in quantum mechanics. Our equation was motivated by certain unitary representations of the group of diffeomorphisms of physical space, in the framework of either nonrelativistic local current algebra or quantum Borel kinematics. Subsequently, we developed this and related approaches to nonlinearity in quantum mechanics considerably further, to incorporate theories of measurement, groups of nonlinear gauge transformations, symmetry and invariance properties, unification of a large family of nonlinear perturbations, and possible physical contexts for quantum nonlinearity. Some of our results and highlights of some open questions are summarized.
A discussion is given of the structure of a physical theory and an ``ideal form'' for such a theory is proposed. The essential feature is that all concepts should be defined in operational terms. Quantum (and classical) mechanics is then formulated in this way (the formulation being, however, restricted to the kinematical theory). This requires the introduction of the concept of a mixed test, related to a pure test (or ``question'') just as a mixed state is related to a pure state. In the new formulation, the primitive concepts are not states and observables but certain operationally accessible mixed states and tests called physical. The notion of a C*-system is introduced; each such system is characterized by a certain C*-algebra. The structure of a general C*-system is then studied, all concepts being defined in terms of physical states and tests. It is shown first how pure states and tests can be so defined. The quantum analog of the phase space of classical mechanics is then constructed and on it is built a mathematical structure, called a q-topology, which is a quantum analog of the topology of classical phase space. Mathematically, a q-topology is related to a noncommutative C*-algebra as an ordinary topology is related to a commutative C*-algebra. Some properties of the q-topology of a C*-system are given. An appendix contains some physically motivated examples illustrating the theory.
In an earlier paper a q -Schrödinger equation was obtained based on a particular quantization procedure, called Borel quantization, and a related q -deformation of the Witt algebra. This q -deformation is a deformation in the category of Lie algebras and hence the corresponding q -Witt algebra has a trivial Hopf algebra structure. In this paper, we extend the above algebra by the addition of a set of shift-type generators, which appear in the expression for the quantum mechanical position operator and hence lead to a new type of quantum kinematics. The latter gives rise to a new kind of evolution equation and it is shown that in the limit q 1 a specific class of Schrödinger equations is obtained from it. This specification of a particular class is a new phenomenon, because in earlier references, where a different q -deformation has been implemented or no deformation has been used at all, such a class could not be determined uniquely. The extended algebra used here has a nontrivial Hopf structure. The appearance of the shift-type generator in the q -deformed picture hence leads to a selection of a particular type of dynamics and delivers in the limit q 1 new information for the characterization of the corresponding dynamics in the undeformed situation.
A formalism of quantum kinematics which rests on the regular representation of a Lie group is proposed. This representation leads to explicit canonical commutation relations for non-Abelian dynamical variables which, together with the Lie algebra, define the kinematic algebra. Generalised equations of motion for the group-parameter-dependent operators, as well as generalised wave equations, are introduced over the group manifold considered as a background arena. The formalism proposed affords a method of geometric quantisation stemming directly from the observed symmetries of a system.
Following previous works by E. Prugovečki [Physica A 91A, 202 (1978) and Stochastic Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Space–time (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1986)] on common features of classical and quantum mechanics, we develop a unified mathematical framework for classical and quantum mechanics (based on L2-spaces over classical phase space), in order to investigate to what extent quantum mechanics can be obtained as a simple modification of classical mechanics (on both logical and analytical levels). To obtain this unified framework, we split quantum theory in two parts: (i) general quantum axiomatics (a system is described by a state in a Hilbert space, observables are self-adjoints operators, and so on) and (ii) quantum mechanics proper that specifies the Hilbert space as L2(Rn); the Heisenberg rule [pi,qj]=−iℏδij with p=−iℏ∇, the free Hamiltonian H=−ℏ2Δ/2m and so on. We show that general quantum axiomatics (up to a supplementary “axiom of classicity”) can be used as a nonstandard mathematical ground to formulate physical ideas and equations of ordinary classical statistical mechanics. So, the question of a “true quantization” with “ℏ” must be seen as an independent physical problem not directly related with quantum formalism. At this stage, we show that this nonstandard formulation of classical mechanics exhibits a new kind of operation that has no classical counterpart: this operation is related to the “quantization process,” and we show why quantization physically depends on group theory (the Galilei group). This analytical procedure of quantization replaces the “correspondence principle” (or canonical quantization) and allows us to map classical mechanics into quantum mechanics, giving all operators of quantum dynamics and the Schrödinger equation. The great advantage of this point of view is that quantization is based on concrete physical arguments and not derived from some “pure algebraic rule” (we exhibit also some limit of the correspondence principle). Moreover spins for particles are naturally generated, including an approximation of their interaction with magnetic fields. We also recover by this approach the semi-classical formalism developed by E. Prugovečki [Stochastic Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Space–time (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1986)].
Quantum mechanics (QM) is not just a theory of micro-objects: it is our current fundamental theory of motion. It expresses a deeper understanding of Nature than classical mechanics. Precisely as classical mechanics, the conventional formulation of QM describes evolution of states and observables in time. Precisely as classical mechanics, this is not sufficient to deal with general relativistic systems, because these systems do not describe evolution in time; they describe correlations between observables. Therefore, a formulation of QM slightly more general than the conventional one – or a quantum version of the relativistic classical mechanics discussed in the previous chapter – is needed. In this chapter I discuss the possibility of such a formulation. In the last section I discuss the general physical interpretation of QM. QM can be formulated in a number of more or less equivalent formalisms: canonical (Hilbert spaces and self-adjoint operators), covariant (Feynman's sum-over-histories), algebraic (states as linear functionals over an abstract algebra of observables) and others. Generally, but not always, we are able to translate these formalisms into one another, but often what is easy in one formulation is difficult in another. A generalrelativistic sum-over-histories formalism has been developed by Jim Hartle. Here I focus on the canonical formalism, because the canonical formalism has provided the mathematical completeness and precision needed to explicitly construct the mathematical apparatus of quantum gravity. Later I will consider alternative formalisms.