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Science in China. Series G, Physics, mechanics & astronomy/Science in China. Series G, Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy

Formulation and picture of quantum phase

Yao Zhi

Published Jan 1, 2009• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Based on the concept of classical phase,we formulate a new explanation for the quantum phase from the quantum mechanical point of view. The quantum phase is the canonically conjugate variable of an angular momentum operator,which corresponds to the angular position θ in an actual physical space with a classical reference frame,but it takes a complex exponential form eiθ ≡cosθ +i sinθ in the abstract Hilbert space of a quantum reference frame. This formulation is simply the famous Euler formula in a complex number field. In particular,when θ = π/2,the correlative quantum phase is a unitary pure imaginary number eiπ/2 ≡cos(π/2)+i sin(π/2) ≡ i. By using a photon state-vector function that is the general solution of photon Schrdinger equation and can completely describe a photon's behavior,we discuss the relationship between the angular momentum of a photon and the phase of the photon; we also analyze the intrinsic relationship between the macroscopic light wave phase and the microscopic photon phase.

Related papers

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We use a new limiting procedure, developed to study quantum-optical phase, to examine canonically conjugate operators in general. We find that Dirac's assumption that photon number and phase should be canonically conjugate variables, similar to momentum and position, is essentially correct. The difficulties with Dirac's approach are shown to arise through use of a form of the canonical commutator which, although the only possible form in the usual infinite Hilbert space approach, is not sufficiently general to be used as a model for a number-phase commutator. The approach in this paper unifies the theory of conjugate operators, which include photon number and phase, angular momentum and angle, and momentum and position as particular cases. The usual position-momentum commutator is regained from a more generally applicable expression by means of a domain restriction which cannot be used for the phase-number commutator.

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> In standard quantum mechanics, the imaginary part of the wavefunction is treated as a mathematical convenience. This work shows that it corresponds to a real internal coordinate in a strictly real two-component representation Ψ = (R, I). The quantum phase is identified as a rotation angle in this internal plane, and Schrödinger dynamics becomes a continuous rotation between R and I. Crucially, the I-component — though not directly measurable in a single projective measurement — can be fully reconstructed via controlled phase shifts and interferometry against a known reference. This explains why real-only models fail: they lack the second degree of freedom required to produce the sinθ term in interference patterns (P(θ) = A + B cosθ + C sinθ, with C ≠ 0). The model is empirically equivalent to complex quantum mechanics but provides a clear physical interpretation of the “imaginary” part as an internal information coordinate. > This document is self-contained, uses no complex notation, and is fully compatible with established quantum theory. It includes a testable experimental signature and connects to quantum tomography, interferometry, and foundational questions about the role of complex numbers in physics. This work is conceptually related to recent discussions on the necessity of complex numbers in quantum theory (Renou et al. 2021; Chen et al. 2022; Weilenmann et al. 2025), but takes a different approach by giving an explicitly real two-component interpretation of the imaginary part.”

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The objective of this thesis is to describe the fundamental concepts relating to the reformulation of quantum mechanics in phase space. It is assumed that the interested reader is familiar with the principles and techniques of ordinary quantum mechanics. In classical statistical mechanics the expectation values of physical quantities are calculated as averages over phase space distribution functions. It is possible to obtain a similar procedure in quantum mechanics. However, phase space is a classical concept and thus has no quantum mechanical equivalent, owing to the non-commutability of the operators p and q. A sensible basic requirement for the formulation of quantum mechanics in phase space is a linear one-one mapping between quantum operators and classical functions. This was achieved by the pioneering work of Weyl, Wigner and Moyal. The phase space that they devised we shall call "pseudo phase space". It is completely quantum. The pseudo phase space variables are represented by commuting c-numbers of momentum, p, and position, q; they are the result of applying the Weyl correspondence rule to the operators p and q, respectively. In some ways the pseudo phase space formulation of quantum mechanics appears to return us to an "almost" classical arena, since we dispense with the calculus of non-commuting operators for purely algebraic methods. The pseudo phase space formulation of quantum mechanics is self-contained. That is, there is no need, in principle, to switch to the Schroedinger or Heisenberg pictures when solving physical problems, although it may often be convenient to do so. The classical appearance of the pseudo phase space scheme is especially useful when considering the semi-classical limit of quantum mechanics. In fact, for potentials up to and including the harmonic oscillator the equations represent classical motion. The structure of the thesis is such that it takes the reader steadily through the major concepts of pseudo phase space theory. The mathematical techniques that shall be needed are developed early in Chapter 1. These are used throughout the thesis. This presents the advantage that the reader is not faced with learning new mathematical methods as the thesis proceeds. The pseudo phase space formulation of quantum mechanics as found applications in all areas of mathematical physics. Hence, there is a considerable amount of specialist literature available on the subject. Itis hoped that this thesis serves has an introduction.

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Photon Phase Operator

Z. Ficek, Mohamed Ridza Wahiddin

We have already shown that the coherent states are very close to the classical state of the well-defined amplitude and phase. A question not answered yet is: Does there exist an analogous quantum mechanical observable for the phase that is given by some Hermitian operator? We know from classical optics that phase of an EM field is an observable quantity. Hence, in quantum physics it should be associated with a Hermitian operator. In order to set up a quantitative description of the phase operator, we will introduce some of the ideas presented in the literature which led to the formulation of the Hermitian phase operator.

•Apr 19, 2016•0 citations
Based on the concept of classical phase,we formulate a new explanation for the quantum phase from the quantum mechanical point of view. The quantum phase is the canonically conjugate variable of an angular momentum operator,which corresponds to the angular position θ in an actual physical space with a classical reference frame,but it takes a complex exponential form eiθ ≡cosθ +i sinθ in the abstract Hilbert space of a quantum reference frame. This formulation is simply the famous Euler formula in a complex number field. In particular,when θ = π/2,the correlative quantum phase is a unitary pure imaginary number eiπ/2 ≡cos(π/2)+i sin(π/2) ≡ i. By using a photon state-vector function that is the general solution of photon Schrdinger equation and can completely describe a photon's behavior,we discuss the relationship between the angular momentum of a photon and the phase of the photon; we also analyze the intrinsic relationship between the macroscopic light wave phase and the microscopic photon phase.
We use a new limiting procedure, developed to study quantum-optical phase, to examine canonically conjugate operators in general. We find that Dirac's assumption that photon number and phase should be canonically conjugate variables, similar to momentum and position, is essentially correct. The difficulties with Dirac's approach are shown to arise through use of a form of the canonical commutator which, although the only possible form in the usual infinite Hilbert space approach, is not sufficiently general to be used as a model for a number-phase commutator. The approach in this paper unifies the theory of conjugate operators, which include photon number and phase, angular momentum and angle, and momentum and position as particular cases. The usual position-momentum commutator is regained from a more generally applicable expression by means of a domain restriction which cannot be used for the phase-number commutator.
> In standard quantum mechanics, the imaginary part of the wavefunction is treated as a mathematical convenience. This work shows that it corresponds to a real internal coordinate in a strictly real two-component representation Ψ = (R, I). The quantum phase is identified as a rotation angle in this internal plane, and Schrödinger dynamics becomes a continuous rotation between R and I. Crucially, the I-component — though not directly measurable in a single projective measurement — can be fully reconstructed via controlled phase shifts and interferometry against a known reference. This explains why real-only models fail: they lack the second degree of freedom required to produce the sinθ term in interference patterns (P(θ) = A + B cosθ + C sinθ, with C ≠ 0). The model is empirically equivalent to complex quantum mechanics but provides a clear physical interpretation of the “imaginary” part as an internal information coordinate. > This document is self-contained, uses no complex notation, and is fully compatible with established quantum theory. It includes a testable experimental signature and connects to quantum tomography, interferometry, and foundational questions about the role of complex numbers in physics. This work is conceptually related to recent discussions on the necessity of complex numbers in quantum theory (Renou et al. 2021; Chen et al. 2022; Weilenmann et al. 2025), but takes a different approach by giving an explicitly real two-component interpretation of the imaginary part.”
One and two photon wave functions are derived by projecting the quantum state vector onto simultaneous eigenvectors of the number operator and a recently constructed photon position operator [Phys. Rev. A 59, 954 (1999)] that couples spin and orbital angular momentum. While only the Landau-Peierls wave function defines a positive definite photon density, a similarity transformation to a biorthogonal field-potential pair of positive frequency solutions of Maxwell's equations preserves eigenvalues and expectation values. We show that this real space description of photons is compatible with all of the usual rules of quantum mechanics and provides a framework for understanding the relationships amongst different forms of the photon wave function in the literature. It also gives a quantum picture of the optical angular momentum of beams that applies to both one photon and coherent states. According to the rules of quantum mechanics, this wave function gives the probability to count a photon at any position in space.
Abstract Quantum Mechanics and classical optics feature similar phenomena such as superposition, interference and even entanglement. Hence, techniques from optics can be used in quantum mechanics and vice versa. In this article I address the question: What can we learn from formulating optics in the language of quantum mechanics? It is argued that the solutions of the wave equations for the electromagnetic field form a tensor product of Hilbert spaces corresponding to the degrees of freedom of classical light. Therefore, it comprises non-separable solutions reminiscent of entanglement. Moreover, the two spatial degrees of freedom each carry non-commuting position and momentum variables forming a Heisenberg algebra like quantum particles moving in a two dimensional space. An analogy between the dynamics of a quantum harmonic oscillator and paraxial light propagating through a converging lens is drawn. This article presents a modern formulation of optics in the language of state vectors and operators (based on Dirac’s notation) along the lines of an earlier contribution [1], specifying and explaining its results.
The objective of this thesis is to describe the fundamental concepts relating to the reformulation of quantum mechanics in phase space. It is assumed that the interested reader is familiar with the principles and techniques of ordinary quantum mechanics. In classical statistical mechanics the expectation values of physical quantities are calculated as averages over phase space distribution functions. It is possible to obtain a similar procedure in quantum mechanics. However, phase space is a classical concept and thus has no quantum mechanical equivalent, owing to the non-commutability of the operators p and q. A sensible basic requirement for the formulation of quantum mechanics in phase space is a linear one-one mapping between quantum operators and classical functions. This was achieved by the pioneering work of Weyl, Wigner and Moyal. The phase space that they devised we shall call "pseudo phase space". It is completely quantum. The pseudo phase space variables are represented by commuting c-numbers of momentum, p, and position, q; they are the result of applying the Weyl correspondence rule to the operators p and q, respectively. In some ways the pseudo phase space formulation of quantum mechanics appears to return us to an "almost" classical arena, since we dispense with the calculus of non-commuting operators for purely algebraic methods. The pseudo phase space formulation of quantum mechanics is self-contained. That is, there is no need, in principle, to switch to the Schroedinger or Heisenberg pictures when solving physical problems, although it may often be convenient to do so. The classical appearance of the pseudo phase space scheme is especially useful when considering the semi-classical limit of quantum mechanics. In fact, for potentials up to and including the harmonic oscillator the equations represent classical motion. The structure of the thesis is such that it takes the reader steadily through the major concepts of pseudo phase space theory. The mathematical techniques that shall be needed are developed early in Chapter 1. These are used throughout the thesis. This presents the advantage that the reader is not faced with learning new mathematical methods as the thesis proceeds. The pseudo phase space formulation of quantum mechanics as found applications in all areas of mathematical physics. Hence, there is a considerable amount of specialist literature available on the subject. Itis hoped that this thesis serves has an introduction.
We have already shown that the coherent states are very close to the classical state of the well-defined amplitude and phase. A question not answered yet is: Does there exist an analogous quantum mechanical observable for the phase that is given by some Hermitian operator? We know from classical optics that phase of an EM field is an observable quantity. Hence, in quantum physics it should be associated with a Hermitian operator. In order to set up a quantitative description of the phase operator, we will introduce some of the ideas presented in the literature which led to the formulation of the Hermitian phase operator.