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arXiv:hep-th/0210128 · Physical review. D. Particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology/Physical review. D. Particles and fields

About maximally localized states in quantum mechanics

Stéphane Detournay, Cl. Gabriel, Ph. Spindel

Published Dec 13, 2002• 57 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We analyze the emergence of a minimal length for a large class of generalized commutation relations, preserving commutation of the position operators and translation invariance as well as rotation invariance (in dimensions higher than one). We show that the construction of the maximally localized states based on squeezed states generally fails. Rather, one must resort to a constrained variational principle.

DOI
10.1103/physrevd.66.125004

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We analyze the emergence of a minimal length for a large class of generalized commutation relations, preserving commutation of the position operators and translation invariance as well as rotation invariance (in dimensions higher than one). We show that the construction of the maximally localized states based on squeezed states generally fails. Rather, one must resort to a constrained variational principle.
We construct the states of maximal localization taking into account a modification of the commutation relation between position and momentum operators to all orders of the minimum length parameter. To first-order, the algebra we use reproduces the one proposed by Kempf, Mangano and Mann. It is emphasized that a minimal length acts as a natural regulator for the theory, thus eliminating the otherwise ever appearing infinities. So, we use our results to calculate the first correction to the Casimir effect due to the minimal length. We also discuss some of the physical consequences of the existence of a minimal length, culminating in a proposal to reformulate the very concept of "position measurement."
Abstract We develop a deformation quantization approach to quantum mechanics that exhibits a nonzero minimal uncertainty in position through the modification of commutation relations for the operators of position and momentum. Deformation quantization is a method of quantizing a classical Hamiltonian system by suitably deforming the Poisson algebra of the system. The developed theory of deformation quantization is non-formal. An appropriate integral formula for the star-product is introduced, along with a suitable space of functions on which the star-product is well defined. A C*-algebra of observables and a space of states are constructed. Moreover, an operator representation in momentum space is presented. Finally, an example of states of maximal localization is given in terms of generalized Wigner functions.
Several approaches to quantum gravity suggest the emergence of a fundamental minimal length at the Planck scale. In quantum mechanics, this feature is naturally encoded through deformations of the Heisenberg algebra, leading to the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP). While the phenomenological implications of GUP have been extensively explored, a consistent characterization of coherent states in minimal-length quantum mechanics remains elusive. In this work, we present a systematic analysis of coherent states for the one-dimensional harmonic oscillator. We show that the canonical equivalence among their standard characterizations - as eigenstates of the annihilation operator, displaced vacuum states and minimum-uncertainty wave packets - is generically lost in the presence of a minimal length. We then investigate the dynamical and semiclassical consequences of this inequivalence by comparing the evolution of generalized coherent states with that of states saturating the GUP. In particular, we demonstrate that minimal-length effects induce nontrivial deformations of phase-space trajectories and give rise to an intrinsic squeezing mechanism with no counterpart in ordinary quantum mechanics. These results establish a unified framework for coherence in GUP-based quantum theories and identify distinctive semiclassical signatures of minimal-length physics, opening a new avenue for probing quantum-gravitational effects.
Several quantum gravity theories predict a minimal length at the order of magnitude of the Planck length, under which the concepts of space and time lose their physical meaning. In quantum mechanics, the insurgence of such a minimal length can be described by introducing a modified position-momentum commutator, which in turn yields a generalized uncertainty principle, where the uncertainty on position measurements has a lower bound. The value of the minimal length is not predicted by theories and must be estimated experimentally. In this paper, we address the quantum bound to the estimability of the minimal uncertainty length by performing measurements on a harmonic oscillator, which is analytically solvable in the deformed algebra induced by the deformed commutation relations.
Candidate theories of quantum gravity predict the presence of a minimal measurable length at high energies. Such feature is in contrast with the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Therefore, phenomenological approaches to quantum gravity introduced models spelled as modifications of quantum mechanics including a minimal length. The effects of such modification are expected to be relevant at large energies/small lengths. One first consequence is that position eigenstates are not included in such models due to the presence of a minimal uncertainty in position. Furthermore, depending on the particular modification of the position–momentum commutator, when such models are considered from momentum space, the position operator is changed, and a measure factor appears to let the position operator be self-adjoint. As a consequence, the (quasi-)position representation acquires numerous issues. For example, the position operator is no longer a multiplicative operator, and the momentum of a free particle does not correspond directly to its wave number. Here, we will review such issues, clarifying aspects of minimal length models, with particular reference to the representation of the position operator. Furthermore, we will show how such a (quasi-)position description of quantum mechanical models with a minimal length affects results concerning simple systems.
A proper deformation of the underlying coordinate and momentum commutation relations in quantum mechanics provides a phenomenological approach to account for the influence of gravity on small scales. Introducing the squared momentum term results in a generalized uncertainty principle, which limits the minimum uncertainty in particle position to the Planck length. However, such a deformation of the commutator significantly changes the formalism, making it separate from the canonical formalism of quantum mechanics. In this study, it is shown that the deformed algebra of position and momentum operators can be incorporated into the framework of ordinary quantum mechanics.