Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Quantum Studies Mathematics and Foundations

Extending the Kostant–Souriau quantization map by “tautological-tuning” with symplectic and Riemannian structures

Tom McClain

Published Sep 17, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract Though quantization is—from an ontological standpoint—a very strange operation, it seems unavoidable in the actual practice of physics. From a mathematical standpoint, canonical quantization was superseded decades ago by more elegant constructions, yet among practicing physicists it remains the de-facto champion among the many alternatives. Despite this fact, there is to this day no mathematically well-defined, coordinate independent construction that reproduces the results of canonical quantization for the most physically important phase space functions: position, momentum, angular momentum, and (quadratic) Hamiltonian functions. In this paper, I construct such a quantization map using standard structures from symplectic and Riemannian geometry in non-standard ways.

DOI
10.1007/s40509-025-00373-8

Related papers

Path Integral Quantization and Riemannian-Symplectic Manifolds

Sergei V. Shabanov, John R. Klauder

We develop a mathematically well-defined path integral formalism for general symplectic manifolds. We argue that in order to make a path integral quantization covariant under general coordinate transformations on the phase space and involve a genuine functional measure that is both finite and countably additive, the phase space manifold should be equipped with a Riemannian structure (metric). A suitable method to calculate the metric is also proposed. 1. Most quantization formulations lead to correct results only when the system in question is expressed in one of a family of special (Cartesian) coordinate systems [1]. However, for Hamiltonian systems on a generic symplectic manifold, the canonical variables do not admit such special coordinates. Moreover classical Hamiltonian dynamics exhibits covariance under general coordinate transformations on the symplectic manifold, and, in this sense, is coordinate-free. This covariance is lost upon a formal phase-space path integral quantization. The reason is that the Hamiltonian action involves terms linear in the time derivatives and, therefore, its exponential (even in Euclidean time) does not induce a

•Jan 1, 1998•6 citations

Reformulation of Quantum Theory

Seyed Ebrahim Akrami

We first recall a fact which is well-known among mathematical physicists although lesser-known among theoretical physicists that the standard quantum mechanics over a complex Hilbert space, is a Hamiltonian mechanics, regarding the Hilbert space as a linear real manifold equipped with its canonical symplectic form and restricting only to the expectation-value functions of Hermitian operators. Then in this framework, we reformulate the structure of quantum mechanics in the language of symplectic manifolds and avoid linear structure of Hilbert space in such a way that the results can be stated for an arbitrary symplectic manifold.

arXiv:2201.01187•Jan 3, 2022•0 citations

Geometric quantization

Geometric quantization is an attempt at using the differential-geometric ingredients of classical phase spaces regarded as symplectic manifolds in order to define a corresponding quantum theory. Generally, the process of geometric quantization is applicable to other symplectic manifolds, not only cotangent spaces. The resulting formalism provides a way of looking at quantum theory that is distinct from conventional approaches to the subject, e.g., the Dirac bra-ket formalism. In particular, such familiar features as the quantization of spin, the canonical quantization of position and momentum, and the Schr\{o}dinger equation all emerge from geometric quantization. This paper serves as a review of the subject written in an informal style, often taking an example-based approach to exposition, and attempts to present the material without assuming the reader is an expert in differential geometry.

WORLD SCIENTIFIC eBooks•Jan 1, 2005•3 citations

Geometric Quantization

Andrea Carosso

Geometric quantization is an attempt at using the differential-geometric ingredients of classical phase spaces regarded as symplectic manifolds in order to define a corresponding quantum theory. Generally, the process of geometric quantization is applicable to other symplectic manifolds, not only cotangent spaces. The resulting formalism provides a way of looking at quantum theory that is distinct from conventional approaches to the subject, e.g., the Dirac bra-ket formalism. In particular, such familiar features as the quantization of spin, the canonical quantization of position and momentum, and the Schrödinger equation all emerge from geometric quantization. This paper serves as a review of the subject written in an informal style, often taking an example-based approach to exposition, and attempts to present the material without assuming the reader is an expert in differential geometry.

arXiv:1801.02307•Jan 8, 2018•1 citation

An Introduction To Geometric Prequantization

Geraci, Joseph

Classical mechanics has a natural mathematical setting in symplectic geometry and it may be asked if the same is true for quantum mechanics. More precisely, is it possible to capture certain quantum idiosyncrasies within the symplectic framework of classical mechanics? Beginning with Dirac, the idea of quantizing a classical system involved associating the phase space variables with Hermitian operators which act on some Hilbert space, as well as associating the Poisson bracket on the phase space with the commutator for the operators. Mathematically the phase space is associated with some symplectic manifold $M$ and the non-degenerate 2-form $ω$, which comes with $M$. Geometric prequantization is a process by which one does this in a mathematically "rigorous" manner and we shall attempt to just introduce the methods here. We do this by exploring this contruction for ($\mathbb{R}^{2n}, \sum_{i=1}^n dp_i \wedge dq_i$) which avoids using complex line bundles in any non-trivial way. One should note however that the Hilbert space one obtains is in fact too "big", in the sense that it has too many functions in order to correspond with actual physically significant Hilbert spaces. Geometric quantization remedies this situation but it should be noted that not all manifolds are prequantizable. We shall not discuss either of these issues however.

arXiv:0911.0964•Nov 5, 2009•4 citations

Noncommutative configuration space: classical and quantum mechanical aspects

Franciscus Jozef Vanhecke, Cassio Sigaud, A. R. da Silva

In this work we examine noncommutativity of position coordinates in classical symplectic mechanics and its quantisation.In coordinates {q i , p k } the canonical symplectic two-form is ω 0 = dq i ∧ d p i .It is well known in symplectic mechanics [5, 6,9] that the interaction of a charged particle with a magnetic field can be described in a Hamiltonian formalism without a choice of a potential.This is done by means of a modified symplectic twoform ω = ω 0 -eF, where e is the charge and the (time-independent) magnetic field F is closed: dF = 0.With this symplectic structure, the canonical momentum variables acquire non-vanishing Poisson brackets: {p k , p l } = e F kl (q).Similarly a closed two-form in p-space G may be introduced.Such a dual magnetic field G interacts with the particle's dual charge r.A new modified symplectic two-form ω = ω 0 -eF + rG is then defined.Now, both p-and q-variables will cease to Poisson commute and upon quantisation they become noncommuting operators.In the particular case of a linear phase space R 2N , it makes sense to consider constant F and G fields.It is then possible to define, by a linear transformation, global Darboux coordinates: {ξ i , π k } = δ i k .These can then be quantised in the usual way [ ξ i , π k ] = i δ i k .The case of a quadratic potential is examined with some detail when N equals 2 and 3.

arXiv:math-ph/0502003•Brazilian Journal of Physics•Mar 1, 2006•18 citations
Abstract Though quantization is—from an ontological standpoint—a very strange operation, it seems unavoidable in the actual practice of physics. From a mathematical standpoint, canonical quantization was superseded decades ago by more elegant constructions, yet among practicing physicists it remains the de-facto champion among the many alternatives. Despite this fact, there is to this day no mathematically well-defined, coordinate independent construction that reproduces the results of canonical quantization for the most physically important phase space functions: position, momentum, angular momentum, and (quadratic) Hamiltonian functions. In this paper, I construct such a quantization map using standard structures from symplectic and Riemannian geometry in non-standard ways.
We develop a mathematically well-defined path integral formalism for general symplectic manifolds. We argue that in order to make a path integral quantization covariant under general coordinate transformations on the phase space and involve a genuine functional measure that is both finite and countably additive, the phase space manifold should be equipped with a Riemannian structure (metric). A suitable method to calculate the metric is also proposed. 1. Most quantization formulations lead to correct results only when the system in question is expressed in one of a family of special (Cartesian) coordinate systems [1]. However, for Hamiltonian systems on a generic symplectic manifold, the canonical variables do not admit such special coordinates. Moreover classical Hamiltonian dynamics exhibits covariance under general coordinate transformations on the symplectic manifold, and, in this sense, is coordinate-free. This covariance is lost upon a formal phase-space path integral quantization. The reason is that the Hamiltonian action involves terms linear in the time derivatives and, therefore, its exponential (even in Euclidean time) does not induce a
We first recall a fact which is well-known among mathematical physicists although lesser-known among theoretical physicists that the standard quantum mechanics over a complex Hilbert space, is a Hamiltonian mechanics, regarding the Hilbert space as a linear real manifold equipped with its canonical symplectic form and restricting only to the expectation-value functions of Hermitian operators. Then in this framework, we reformulate the structure of quantum mechanics in the language of symplectic manifolds and avoid linear structure of Hilbert space in such a way that the results can be stated for an arbitrary symplectic manifold.
Geometric quantization is an attempt at using the differential-geometric ingredients of classical phase spaces regarded as symplectic manifolds in order to define a corresponding quantum theory. Generally, the process of geometric quantization is applicable to other symplectic manifolds, not only cotangent spaces. The resulting formalism provides a way of looking at quantum theory that is distinct from conventional approaches to the subject, e.g., the Dirac bra-ket formalism. In particular, such familiar features as the quantization of spin, the canonical quantization of position and momentum, and the Schr\{o}dinger equation all emerge from geometric quantization. This paper serves as a review of the subject written in an informal style, often taking an example-based approach to exposition, and attempts to present the material without assuming the reader is an expert in differential geometry.
Geometric quantization is an attempt at using the differential-geometric ingredients of classical phase spaces regarded as symplectic manifolds in order to define a corresponding quantum theory. Generally, the process of geometric quantization is applicable to other symplectic manifolds, not only cotangent spaces. The resulting formalism provides a way of looking at quantum theory that is distinct from conventional approaches to the subject, e.g., the Dirac bra-ket formalism. In particular, such familiar features as the quantization of spin, the canonical quantization of position and momentum, and the Schrödinger equation all emerge from geometric quantization. This paper serves as a review of the subject written in an informal style, often taking an example-based approach to exposition, and attempts to present the material without assuming the reader is an expert in differential geometry.
Classical mechanics has a natural mathematical setting in symplectic geometry and it may be asked if the same is true for quantum mechanics. More precisely, is it possible to capture certain quantum idiosyncrasies within the symplectic framework of classical mechanics? Beginning with Dirac, the idea of quantizing a classical system involved associating the phase space variables with Hermitian operators which act on some Hilbert space, as well as associating the Poisson bracket on the phase space with the commutator for the operators. Mathematically the phase space is associated with some symplectic manifold MMM and the non-degenerate 2-form ωωω, which comes with MMM. Geometric prequantization is a process by which one does this in a mathematically "rigorous" manner and we shall attempt to just introduce the methods here. We do this by exploring this contruction for (R2n,∑i=1ndpi∧dqi\mathbb{R}^{2n}, \sum_{i=1}^n dp_i \wedge dq_iR2n,∑i=1n​dpi​∧dqi​) which avoids using complex line bundles in any non-trivial way. One should note however that the Hilbert space one obtains is in fact too "big", in the sense that it has too many functions in order to correspond with actual physically significant Hilbert spaces. Geometric quantization remedies this situation but it should be noted that not all manifolds are prequantizable. We shall not discuss either of these issues however.
In this work we examine noncommutativity of position coordinates in classical symplectic mechanics and its quantisation.In coordinates {q i , p k } the canonical symplectic two-form is ω 0 = dq i ∧ d p i .It is well known in symplectic mechanics [5, 6,9] that the interaction of a charged particle with a magnetic field can be described in a Hamiltonian formalism without a choice of a potential.This is done by means of a modified symplectic twoform ω = ω 0 -eF, where e is the charge and the (time-independent) magnetic field F is closed: dF = 0.With this symplectic structure, the canonical momentum variables acquire non-vanishing Poisson brackets: {p k , p l } = e F kl (q).Similarly a closed two-form in p-space G may be introduced.Such a dual magnetic field G interacts with the particle's dual charge r.A new modified symplectic two-form ω = ω 0 -eF + rG is then defined.Now, both p-and q-variables will cease to Poisson commute and upon quantisation they become noncommuting operators.In the particular case of a linear phase space R 2N , it makes sense to consider constant F and G fields.It is then possible to define, by a linear transformation, global Darboux coordinates: {ξ i , π k } = δ i k .These can then be quantised in the usual way [ ξ i , π k ] = i δ i k .The case of a quadratic potential is examined with some detail when N equals 2 and 3.