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Quantum Mechanics as a Gauge Theory of Metaplectic Spinor Fields

Reuter, M., Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany)

Published Jan 1, 1997• 11 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

A hidden gauge theory structure of quantum mechanics which is invisible in its conventional formulation is uncovered. Quantum mechanics is shown to be equivalent to a certain Yang-Mills theory with an infinite-dimensional gauge group and a nondynamical connection. It is defined over an arbitrary symplectic manifold which constitutes the phase-space of the system under consideration. The ''matter fields'' are local generalizations of states and observables: they assume values in a family of local Hilbert spaces (and their tensor products) which are attached to the points of phase-space. Under local frame rotations they transform in the spinor representation of the metaplectic group Mp(2N), the double covering of Sp(2N). The rules of canonical quantization are replaced by two independent postulates with a simple group theoretical and differential geometrical interpretation. A novel background-quantum split symmetry plays a central role. (orig.)

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A hidden gauge theory structure of quantum mechanics which is invisible in its conventional formulation is uncovered. Quantum mechanics is shown to be equivalent to a certain Yang-Mills theory with an infinite-dimensional gauge group and a nondynamical connection. It is defined over an arbitrary symplectic manifold which constitutes the phase-space of the system under consideration. The ''matter fields'' are local generalizations of states and observables: they assume values in a family of local Hilbert spaces (and their tensor products) which are attached to the points of phase-space. Under local frame rotations they transform in the spinor representation of the metaplectic group Mp(2N), the double covering of Sp(2N). The rules of canonical quantization are replaced by two independent postulates with a simple group theoretical and differential geometrical interpretation. A novel background-quantum split symmetry plays a central role. (orig.)
A hidden gauge theory structure of quantum mechanics which is invisible in its conventional formulation is uncovered. Quantum mechanics is shown to be equivalent to a certain Yang–Mills theory with an infinite-dimensional gauge group and a nondynamical connection. It is defined over an arbitrary symplectic manifold which constitutes the phase space of the system under consideration. The "matter fields" are local generalizations of states and observables; they assume values in a family of local Hilbert spaces (and their tensor products) which are attached to the points of phase space. Under local frame rotations they transform in the spinor representation of the metaplectic group Mp(2N), the double covering of Sp(2N). The rules of canonical quantization are replaced by two independent postulates with a simple group-theoretical and differential-geometrical interpretation. A novel background-quantum split symmetry plays a central role.
Functional Integral Approach to C∗C^*C∗-algebraic Quantum Mechanics II: Symplectic Quantum Mechanics
We propose Sp (8,R)Sp\,(8,\R)Sp(8,R) and its Langlands dual SO(9,R)SO(9,\R)SO(9,R) as dynamical groups for closed quantum systems. Restricting here to the non-compact group Sp (8,R)Sp\,(8,\R)Sp(8,R), the quantum theory is constructed and investigated. The functional Mellin transform plays a prominent role in defining the quantum theory. It provides a bridge between the quantum algebra of observables and the algebra of operators on Hilbert spaces furnishing unitary representations that are induced from a distinguished parabolic subgroup of $Sp\,(8,\C)$. As well, the parabolic subgroup renders a fiber bundle construction that models what can be described as a matrix quantum gauge theory. The formulation is strictly quantum mechanics: no \emph{a priori} space-time is assumed and the only geometrical input comes indirectly from the group manifold. But what appears on the surface to be a fairly simple-minded model turns out to have a capacious structure suggesting some compelling physical interpretations regarding space-time and fundamental interactions.
The geometric form of standard quantum mechanics is compatible with the two postulates: (1) the laws of physics are invariant under the choice of experimental setup and (2) every quantum observation or event is intrinsically statistical. These postulates remain compatible within a background independent extension of quantum theory with a local intrinsic time implying the relativity of the concept of a quantum event. In this extension the space of quantum events becomes dynamical and only individual quantum events make sense observationally. At the core of such a general theory of quantum relativity is the three-way interplay between the symplectic form, the dynamical metric and non-integrable almost complex structure of the space of quantum events. Such a formulation provides a missing conceptual ingredient in the search for a background independent quantum theory of gravity and matter. The crucial new technical element in our scheme derives from a set of recent mathematical results on certain infinite-dimensional almost Kahler manifolds which replace the complex projective spaces of standard quantum mechanics.
The current form of quantum mechanics is very successful and is almost certainly correct. It is remarkable, however, that the entire structure-from the mass, spin and charge labels on particlelike states to antisymmetry to broken internal symmetries to gauge transformations to the equations of motion-is built upon concepts from group representation theory. That is, the theory is constructed exactly as if it were a representational form of an underlying theory. Our proposed form for the underlying theory is that it is based on a linear equation, OF(V)=0. F is a function of some set of independent, currently unknown variables V, with O being a linear, partial differential operator in those variables. The operator is assumed to be invariant under a group of transformations of the Vs, homomorphic to the direct product of the inhomogeneous Lorentz group and the internal symmetry group. In such a theory, a state vector, denoted by a ket with group-theoretic labels, would represent a function of the independent variables. In addition to explaining the group representational structure of quantum mechanics, an underlying theory offers insight into gauge theory.
The article contains a review and new results of some mathematical models relevant to the interpretation of quantum mechanics and emulating well-known quantum gauge theories, such as scalar electrodynamics (Klein–Gordon–Maxwell electrodynamics), spinor electrodynamics (Dirac–Maxwell electrodynamics), etc. In these models, evolution is typically described by modified Maxwell equations. In the case of scalar electrodynamics, the scalar complex wave function can be made real by a gauge transformation, the wave function can be algebraically eliminated from the equations of scalar electrodynamics, and the resulting modified Maxwell equations describe the independent evolution of the electromagnetic field. Similar results were obtained for spinor electrodynamics. Three out of four components of the Dirac spinor can be algebraically eliminated from the Dirac equation, and the remaining component can be made real by a gauge transformation. A similar result was obtained for the Dirac equation in the Yang–Mills field. As quantum gauge theories play a central role in modern physics, the approach of this article may be sufficiently general. One-particle wave functions can be modeled as plasma-like collections of a large number of particles and antiparticles. This seems to enable the simulation of quantum phase-space distribution functions, such as the Wigner distribution function, which are not necessarily non-negative.