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Relativistic spin operator and Lorentz covariant reduced spin density matrix in a new representation space

Heon Lee

Published May 21, 2021• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

The spin reduced matrix defined by taking partial trace with the momentum variable has been shown not to transform covariantly under Lorentz transformations. In this paper, I suggest another representation space of the Poincare group, the elements of which are in a sense apparent wave functions. In this new Hilbert space, the naive spin observable $\frac{1}{2}\boldsymbol{\tau}$ from nonrelativistic quantum mechanics on the old Hilbert space is represented as the Newton-Wigner spin operator. Also on this space, one can naturally associate to each state a Lorentz covariant spin reduced density matrix, which is then given a new interpretation.

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The spin reduced matrix defined by taking partial trace with the momentum variable has been shown not to transform covariantly under Lorentz transformations. In this paper, I suggest another representation space of the Poincare group, the elements of which are in a sense apparent wave functions. In this new Hilbert space, the naive spin observable 12τ\frac{1}{2}\boldsymbol{\tau}21​τ from nonrelativistic quantum mechanics on the old Hilbert space is represented as the Newton-Wigner spin operator. Also on this space, one can naturally associate to each state a Lorentz covariant spin reduced density matrix, which is then given a new interpretation.
Recently, in the context of Relativistic Quantum Information Theory (RQI) of massive spin-1/2 particles, it has been suggested that it is impossible to perform a momentum-independent spin measurement, showing the inadequacy of the spin reduced density matrix as a legitimate information resource. This is because there is an unavoidable ambiguity in the definition of the spin of a moving particle. In this paper, by introducing a vector bundle theoretic way to view the single-particle state space, we try to rule out this ambiguity. The discrete degree of freedom of the resulting representation space contains information about the Pauli–Lubanski four-vector of the particle instead of the ambiguous spin. Comparing this representation with the standard one used in the RQI literature, we show that the discrete degree of freedom of the standard representation space attains the meaning of the Newton–Wigner spin. In addition, using this viewpoint, we give a mathematical proof of why the spin reduced density matrix is meaningless, which is stronger than the previous claims in that it asserts that the matrix is void of any meaning at all, not just in terms of the impossibility of measurement or Lorentz non-covariance. We give a way (which turns out to be the only way) to modify it to obtain the Pauli–Lubanski reduced density matrix, which is covariant under Lorentz transformations.
We present an interpretation for reduced density matrices of secondary variables in relativistic systems via an analysis of Wigner's method to construct the irreducible unitary representations of the Poincar\'e group. We argue that the usual partial trace method used to obtain spin-reduced matrices is not fully rigorous, however, employing our interpretation, similar effective reduced density matrices can be constructed. In addition, we show that our proposal is more useful than the usual one since we are not restricted only to the reduced density matrices that could be obtained by the ordinary partial trace method.
We have shown that the covariant relativistic spin operator is equivalent to the spin operator commuting with the free Dirac Hamiltonian. This implies that the covariant relativistic spin operator is a good quantum observable. The covariant relativistic spin operator has a pure quantum contribution that does not exist in the classical covariant spin operator. Based on this equivalence, reduced spin states can be clearly defined. We have shown that depending on the relative motion of an observer, the change in the entropy of a reduced spin density matrix sweeps through the whole range.
A consistent theory of quantum entanglement requires that constituent single-particle states belong to the same Hilbert space, the coherent eigenstates of a complete set of operators in a given representation, defined with respect to a shared continuous parameterization. Formulating such eigenstates for a single relativistic particle with spin, and applying them to the description of many-body states, presents well-known challenges. In this paper, we review the covariant theory of relativistic spin and entanglement in a framework first proposed by Stueckelberg and developed by Horwitz, Piron, et al. This approach modifies Wigner’s method by introducing an arbitrary timelike unit vector nμ and then inducing a representation of SL(2,C), based on pμ rather than on the spacetime momentum. Generalizing this approach, we construct relativistic spin states on an extended phase space {(xμ,pμ),(ζμ,πμ)}, inducing a representation on the momentum πμ, thus providing a novel dynamical interpretation of the timelike unit vector nμ=πμ/M. Studying the unitary representations of the Poincaré group on the extended phase space allows us to define basis quantities for quantum states and develop the gauge invariant electromagnetic Hamiltonian in classical and quantum mechanics. We write plane wave solutions for free particles and construct stable singlet states, and relate these to experiments involving temporal interference, analogous to the spatial interference known from double slit experiments.
The adaptation of Wigner's induced representation for a relativistic quantum theory making possible the construction of wave packets and admitting covariant expectation values for the coordinate operator x μ introduces a foliation on the Hilbert space of states. The spin-statistics relation for fermions and bosons implies the universality of the parametrization of orbits of the induced representation, implying that all particles within identical particle sets transform under the same SU (2) subgroup of the Lorentz group, and therefore their spins and angular momentum states can be computed using the usual Clebsch–Gordan coefficients associated with angular momentum. Important consequences, such as entanglement for subsystems at unequal times, covariant statistical correlations in many-body systems and the construction of relativistic boson and fermion statistical ensembles, as well as implications for the foliation of the Fock space and for quantum field theory are briefly discussed.