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arXiv:gr-qc/9506039 · Classical and Quantum Gravity

On quantum and parallel transport in a Hilbert bundle over spacetime

W Drechsler, Philip A. Tuckey

Published Apr 1, 1996• 21 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We study the Hilbert bundle description of stochastic quantum mechanics in curved spacetime developed by Prugovecki, which gives a powerful new framework for exploring the quantum mechanical propagation of states in curved spacetime. We concentrate on the quantum transport law in the bundle, specifically on the information which can be obtained from the flat space limit. We give a detailed proof that quantum transport coincides with parallel transport in the bundle in this limit, confirming statements of Prugovecki. Furthermore, we show that the quantum-geometric propagator in curved spacetime proposed by Prugovecki, yielding a Feynman path integral-like formula involving integrations over intermediate phase-space variables, is Poincaré gauge-covariant (i.e. is gauge-invariant except for transformations at the endpoints of the path) provided the integration measure is interpreted as a `contact point measure' in the soldered stochastic phase-space bundle raised over curved spacetime.

DOI
10.1088/0264-9381/13/4/004

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We study the Hilbert bundle description of stochastic quantum mechanics in curved spacetime developed by Prugovecki, which gives a powerful new framework for exploring the quantum mechanical propagation of states in curved spacetime. We concentrate on the quantum transport law in the bundle, specifically on the information which can be obtained from the flat space limit. We give a detailed proof that quantum transport coincides with parallel transport in the bundle in this limit, confirming statements of Prugovecki. Furthermore, we show that the quantum-geometric propagator in curved spacetime proposed by Prugovecki, yielding a Feynman path integral-like formula involving integrations over intermediate phase-space variables, is Poincaré gauge-covariant (i.e. is gauge-invariant except for transformations at the endpoints of the path) provided the integration measure is interpreted as a `contact point measure' in the soldered stochastic phase-space bundle raised over curved spacetime.
Quantization together with quantum dynamics can be simultaneously formulated as the problem of finding an appropriate flat connection on a Hilbert bundle over a contact manifold. Contact geometry treats time, generalized positions and momenta as points on an underlying phase-spacetime and reduces classical mechanics to contact topology. Contact quantization describes quantum dynamics in terms of parallel transport for a flat connection; the ultimate goal being to also handle quantum systems in terms of contact topology. Our main result is a proof of local, formal gauge equivalence for a broad class of quantum dynamical systems—just as classical dynamics depends on choices of clocks, local quantum dynamics can be reduced to a problem of studying gauge transformations. We further show how to write quantum correlators in terms of parallel transport and in turn matrix elements for Hilbert bundle gauge transformations, and give the path integral formulation of these results. Finally, we show how to relate topology of the underlying contact manifold to boundary conditions for quantum wave functions.
Using tangent bundle geometry we construct an equivalent reformulation of classical field theory on flat spacetimes which simultaneously encodes the perspectives of multiple observers. Its generalization to curved spacetimes realizes a new type of nonminimal coupling of the fields and is shown to admit a canonical quantization procedure. For the resulting quantum theory we demonstrate the emergence of a particle interpretation, fully consistent with general relativistic geometry. The path dependency of parallel transport forces each observer to carry their own quantum state; we find that the communication of the corresponding quantum information may generate extra particles on curved spacetimes. A speculative link between quantum information and spacetime curvature is discussed which might lead to novel explanations for quantum decoherence and vanishing interference in double-slit or interaction-free measurement scenarios, in the mere presence of additional observers.
The problem of computing quantum mechanical propagators can be recast as a computation of a Wilson line operator for parallel transport by a flat connection acting on a vector bundle of wave functions. In this picture, the base manifold is an odd-dimensional symplectic geometry, or quite generically a contact manifold that can be viewed as a ``phase-spacetime,'' while the fibers are Hilbert spaces. This approach enjoys a ``quantum Darboux theorem'' that parallels the Darboux theorem on contact manifolds which turns local classical dynamics into straight lines. We detail how the quantum Darboux theorem works for anharmonic quantum potentials. In particular, we develop a novel diagrammatic approach for computing the asymptotics of a gauge transformation that locally makes complicated quantum dynamics trivial.
We propose a version of non-relativistic quantum mechanics in which the pure states of a quantum system are described as sections of a Hilbert (generally infinitely-dimensional) fibre bundle over spacetime. Evolution is governed via a (kind of) parallel transport in this bundle. Some problems concerning observables are considered. The equations of motion for the state sections and observables are derived. We show that up to a constant the matrix of the coefficients of the evolution operator (transport) coincides with the matrix of the Hamiltonian of the investigated quantum system.
The geometric properties of quantum states are crucial for understanding many physical phenomena in quantum mechanics, condensed matter physics, and optics. The central object describing these properties is the quantum geometric tensor, which unifies the Berry curvature and the quantum metric. In this work, we use the differential-geometric framework of vector bundles to analyze the properties of parameter-dependent quantum states and generalize the quantum geometric tensor to this setting. This construction is based on a general connection on a Hermitian vector bundle, which defines a notion of quantum state transport in parameter space, and a sub-bundle projector, which constrains the set of accessible quantum states. We show that the sub-bundle geometry is similar to that of submanifolds in Riemannian geometry and is described by generalized Gauss-Codazzi-Mainardi equations. This leads to a novel definition of the quantum geometric tensor that contains an additional curvature contribution. To illustrate our results, we describe the sub-bundle geometry arising in the semiclassical treatment of Dirac fields propagating in curved spacetime and show how the quantum geometric tensor, with its additional curvature contributions, is obtained in this case. As a concrete example, we consider Dirac fermions confined to a hyperbolic plane and demonstrate how spatial curvature influences the quantum geometry. This work sets the stage for further exploration of quantum systems in curved geometries, with applications in both high-energy physics and condensed matter systems.
We describe the time evolution of quantum systems in a classical background space-time by means of a covariant derivative in an infinite dimensional vector bundle. The corresponding parallel transport operator along a timelike curve $\cC$ is interpreted as the time evolution operator of an observer moving along $\cC$. The holonomy group of the connection, which can be interpreted as a group of local symmetry transformations, and the set of observables have to satisfy certain consistency conditions. Two examples related to local $\mbox{SO}(3)$ and $\mbox{U}(1)$-symmetries, respectively, are discussed in detail. The theory developed in this paper may also be useful to analyze situations where the underlying space-time manifold has closed timelike curves.