The structures are physical systems and/or their mathematical descriptions consisting of elements such as particles, fields, observables, operators etc and of relations between these elements: the equations of motion and the rules of quantum mechanics. Examples of symmetries are reflections, permutations of particles, time reversal. The physical system has a symmetry group means, then, that there is a group of transformations leaving the equations of motion and the rules of quantum mechanics invariant. The discrete symmetries lead to conservation laws frequently expressible in terms of quantum numbers, but sometimes requiring a more elaborate description. The observables corresponding to the super-selection quantum numbers can be measured without disturbing any other measurement; their values are always sharp. The chapter shows that the invariant subspace may be labelled by continuous quantum numbers (for instance momentum) when the direct sum becomes a direct integral.
The structures are physical systems and/or their mathematical descriptions consisting of elements such as particles, fields, observables, operators etc and of relations between these elements: the equations of motion and the rules of quantum mechanics. Examples of symmetries are reflections, permutations of particles, time reversal. The physical system has a symmetry group means, then, that there is a group of transformations leaving the equations of motion and the rules of quantum mechanics invariant. The discrete symmetries lead to conservation laws frequently expressible in terms of quantum numbers, but sometimes requiring a more elaborate description. The observables corresponding to the super-selection quantum numbers can be measured without disturbing any other measurement; their values are always sharp. The chapter shows that the invariant subspace may be labelled by continuous quantum numbers (for instance momentum) when the direct sum becomes a direct integral.
A symmetry is an equivalence of different physical situations, and is therefore strictly associated with the concept of invariance . One of the main aims of physics is the search in nature for symmetries and, therefore, for observables that are invariant under certain classes of transformation. In this context, it becomes particularly interesting to look for the conditions under which a certain symmetry is eventually broken. We have already discussed some symmetries of quantum mechanics: time translations (Ch. 3), space translations (Ch. 2) and rotations (Ch. 6). Another example of invariance is represented by the indistinguishability of identical particles, which we discussed in the previous chapter. Symmetries are induced by physical transformations that generate some invariant properties (see Sec. 8.1). In Sec. 8.2, the continuous transformations induced by rotations and space translations are analyzed, whereas in Sec. 8.3, space reflection and time reversal ( discrete symmetries) are discussed. As we shall see in the next chapter, time reversibility is lost in the measurement process. The rigorous mathematical framework of a theory of transformations and of their invariance is called group theory (the subject of Sec. 8.4). Quantum transformations and symmetries Active and passive transformations We have seen that time evolution may be represented either in the Schrödinger picture (state vectors evolve and observables are kept constant) or in the Heisenberg picture (states vectors remain constant and observables evolve) (see Subsec. 3.6.1 and Sec. 5.3).
Introduction The application of group theory to study physical problems and their solutions provides a formal method for exploiting the simplifications made possible by the presence of symmetry. Often the symmetry that is readily apparent is the symmetry of the system/object of interest, such as the three-fold axial symmetry of an NH 3 molecule. The symmetry exploited in actual analysis is the symmetry of the Hamiltonian. When alluding to symmetry we usually include geometrical, time-reversal symmetry, and symmetry associated with the exchange of identical particles. Conservation laws of physics are rooted in the symmetries of the underlying space and time. The most common physical laws we are familiar with are actually manifestations of some universal symmetries. For example, the homogeneity and isotropy of space lead to the conservation of linear and angular momentum, respectively, while the homogeneity of time leads to the conservation of energy. Such laws have come to be known as universal conservation laws. As we will delineate in a later chapter, the relation between these classical symmetries and corresponding conserved quantities is beautifully cast in a theorem due to Emmy Noether. At the day-to-day working level of the physicist dealing with quantum mechanics, the application of symmetry restrictions leads to familiar results, such as selection rules and characteristic transformations of eigenfunctions when acted upon by symmetry operations that leave the Hamiltonian of the system invariant.
The meaning of symmetries is studied in some detail, and a study is performed of transformations which preserve the description, of transformations of frames and the corresponding quantum symmetries. The second part of the chapter outlines Galilei transformations, time translations, spatial reflection and time reversal Meaning of symmetries Symmetries and constants of motion have already appeared here and there in this book, most notably in Appendix 3.A. Recall that, therein, we have defined symmetries as those transformations that generate new solutions out of known solutions; more generally, that permute solutions among themselves. Constants of motion are functions on the carrier space which, when restricted to solutions, acquire a constant value depending on the solution considered. This point of view may be viewed as a dynamical point of view, i.e. depending on the specific system under consideration. There is, however, another meaning of symmetry, which deals with the symmetry of the description that ensures the covariance of the equations of motion, e.g. transformations that map equations of motion in Hamiltonian form into other equations still in Hamiltonian form, or transformations that map second-order differential equations into second-order ones, i.e. equations admitting a Lagrangian description into new ones also admitting a Lagrangian description. Transformations of the dynamical type emerge out of the previous ones when we further require that the Hamiltonian is preserved or the Lagrangian is preserved up to a total time derivative.
We study deterministic and quantum dynamics from a constructive “finite” point of view, since the introduction of the continuum or other actual infinities in physics poses severe conceptual and technical difficulties, and while all of these concepts are not really needed in physics, which is in fact an empirical science. Particular attention is paid to the symmetry properties of discrete systems. For a consistent description of the symmetries of dynamical systems at different time instants and the symmetries of various parts of such systems, we introduce discrete analogs of gauge connections. These gauge structures are particularly important to describe the quantum behavior. The symmetries govern the fundamental properties of the behavior of dynamical systems. In particular, we can show that the moving soliton-like structures are inevitable in a deterministic (classical) dynamical system, whose symmetry group breaks the set of states into a finite number of orbits of the group. We demonstrate that the quantum behavior is a natural consequence of symmetries of dynamical systems. This behavior is a result of the fundamental inability to trace the identity of indistinguish-able objects during their evolution. Information is only available on invariant statements and values related with such objects. Using general mathematical arguments, any quantum dynamics can be shown to reduce to a sequence of permutations. The quantum interferences occur in the invariant subspaces of permutation representations of the symmetry groups of dynamical systems. The observables can be expressed in terms of permutation invariants. We also show that in order to describe quantum phenomena it is sufficient to use cyclotomic fields—the minimal extensions of natural numbers suitable for quantum mechanics, instead of a non-constructive number system—the field of complex numbers. The finite groups of symmetries play the central role in this review. In physics there is an additional reason for such groups to be of interest. Numerous experiments and observations in particle physics point to the importance of finite groups of relatively low orders in a number of fundamental processes. The origin of these groups has no explanation within presently recognized theories, such as the Standard Model.
If a system in atomic physics contains a number of particles of the same kind, e.g. a number of electrons, the particles are absolutely indistinguishable one from another. No observable change is made when two of them are interchanged … A satisfactory theory ought, of course, to count any two observationally indistinguishable states as the same state and to deny that any transition does occur when two similar particles exchange places. ( Dirac, 1958, p. 207 ) Introduction In our contribution to this volume we deal with discrete symmetries: these are symmetries based upon groups with a discrete set of elements (generally a set of elements that can be enumerated by the positive integers). In physics we find that discrete symmetries frequently arise as ‘internal’, non-spacetime symmetries. Permutation symmetry is such a discrete symmetry, arising as the mathematical basis underlying the statistical behaviour of ensembles of certain types of indistinguishable quantum particle (e.g. fermions and bosons). Roughly speaking, if such an ensemble is invariant under a permutation of its constituent particles (i.e. permutation symmetric) then one doesn't ‘count’ those permutations which merely ‘exchange’ indistinguishable particles; rather, the exchanged state is identified with the original state. This principle of invariance is generally called the ‘indistinguishability postulate’ (IP), but we prefer to use the term ‘permutation invariance’ (PI).
This chapter assesses the mathematical theory of symmetry, which is one of the most remarkable in quantum mechanics. Not only does it simplify calculations, but it also reveals unexpected connections between apparently disparate phenomena. It considers angular momentum as a part of group theory and as properties of the harmonic oscillator. The chapter talks about the conservation of energy and of momentum that can be discussed in terms of group theory, which is used to classify the fundamental particles and the selection rules that govern what spectroscopic transitions are allowed. Integrals occur throughout quantum chemistry, for they include expectation values, overlap integrals, and matrix elements.