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arXiv:hep-th/9311147 · Journal of Mathematical Physics

Uncertainty relation in quantum mechanics with quantum group symmetry

Achim Kempf

Published Sep 1, 1994• 401 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The commutation relations, uncertainty relations, and spectra of position and momentum operators were studied within the framework of quantum group symmetric Heisenberg algebras and their (Bargmann) Fock representations. As an effect of the underlying noncommutative geometry, a length and a momentum scale appear, leading to the existence of nonzero minimal uncertainties in the positions and momenta. The usual quantum mechanical behavior is recovered as a limiting case for not too small and not too large distances and momenta.

DOI
10.1063/1.530798

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The commutation relations, uncertainty relations, and spectra of position and momentum operators were studied within the framework of quantum group symmetric Heisenberg algebras and their (Bargmann) Fock representations. As an effect of the underlying noncommutative geometry, a length and a momentum scale appear, leading to the existence of nonzero minimal uncertainties in the positions and momenta. The usual quantum mechanical behavior is recovered as a limiting case for not too small and not too large distances and momenta.
The Heisenberg uncertainty principle is foundational to quantum mechanics, yet its standard formulation is limited to Hilbert space operator commutators. Recent advances in noncommutative geometry (NCG) allow a reformulation of quantum observables and spacetime itself using operator algebras, providing a deeper framework for uncertainty relations. In this paper, we develop a generalized uncertainty relation using spectral triples, extending the Robertson– Schrödinger inequality into the noncommutative regime. Explicit derivations are given for operator-valued distances, modified commutators, and position–momentum operators in a noncommutative configuration space. Our results reveal the emergence of a minimal measurable length scale, consistent with predictions from quantum gravity, and demonstrate that uncertainty is fundamentally geometric in origin.
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.
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.
At the quantum scale, objects such as fundamental particles, atoms, and molecules are modeled as localized wavepackets rather than concrete objects. As such, some quantities that are well-defined at our human scale physics instead become uncertain. For instance, quantum objects do not have a precise position, and instead their position is understood probabilistically and we look to the expected, or average, value of the position. Another quirk of quantum mechanics is that quantities such as position and momentum become operators that act on functions, similar to matrices acting on vectors. As such, quantities that may have commuted classically may not at the quantum level. For instance, position (x) and momentum (p) commute in classical physics (xp = px), but they do not commute at the quantum level (xp ≠ px). For noncommuting operators A and B, the uncertainty principle qualitatively describes how well one can know A and B simultaneously: the more certain one is of the value of A, the less one knows the value B and vice versa. The standard example is that of position and momentum: the Heisenberg uncertainty principle states that the more certain one is of the position of a quantum object, the more uncertain one is about its momentum. The classic uncertainty principles between noncommuting operators are those of position and momentum, the z and x or y components of angular momentum, and number and phase operators. These operators are very rigid and do not provide easy generalization to more general operators. In this project, we used an infinite matrix representation to analyze the uncertainty principle underlying position and momentum which allows for broader generalization. The biggest component of this project was determining eigenvalues of infinite banded matrices which was aided by the use of the mathematical software Mathematica.
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.
Quantum uncertainty, famously encapsulated by Heisenberg's principle, is a cornerstone of quantum mechanics, traditionally understood through the algebraic non-commutativity of observable operators. This paper proposes a novel framework: the commutator geometry of wavefunctions, aiming to unify diverse manifestations of quantum uncertainty within a single, intrinsic geometric description of the quantum state space. By establishing a direct link between the algebraic structure of commutators and the differential geometry of projective Hilbert space, we demonstrate how the inherent non-commutativity of observables fundamentally sculpts the geometry of quantum states. This approach allows for the derivation of geometric measures of uncertainty that intrinsically capture the limitations on simultaneous measurability. We show how this geometric formulation not only recovers existing uncertainty relations, such as the Robertson-Schroedinger inequality, but also provides a more profound, unified interpretation of quantum uncertainty as a manifestation of curvature and metric properties within the space of wavefunctions. The methodology involves constructing a commutator-induced metric and curvature tensor on the quantum state manifold, revealing how the degree of non-commutativity directly dictates the "fuzziness" or "spread" in observable values. Illustrative examples, including position-momentum and angular momentum, are used to demonstrate the efficacy and intuitive appeal of this geometric perspective. The implications of this unified geometric understanding extend to foundational issues in quantum mechanics, potentially offering new insights into quantum gravity, quantum information theory, and the very nature of quantum reality, where uncertainty is not merely a statistical limitation but an intrinsic geometric feature of the universe.