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arXiv:quant-ph/0101076 · Physical Review A

Classical and quantum action-phase variables for time-dependent oscillators

Sang Pyo Kim, Don Nelson Page

Published Jun 6, 2001• 42 citations
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Abstract

For a time-dependent classical quadratic oscillator we introduce pairs of real and complex invariants that are linear in position and momentum. Each pair of invariants realize explicitly a canonical transformation from the phase space to the invariant space, in which the action-phase variables are defined. We find the action operator for the time-dependent quantum oscillator via the classical-quantum correspondence. Candidate phase operators conjugate to the action operator are discussed, but no satisfactory ones are found.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.64.012104

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For a time-dependent classical quadratic oscillator we introduce pairs of real and complex invariants that are linear in position and momentum. Each pair of invariants realize explicitly a canonical transformation from the phase space to the invariant space, in which the action-phase variables are defined. We find the action operator for the time-dependent quantum oscillator via the classical-quantum correspondence. Candidate phase operators conjugate to the action operator are discussed, but no satisfactory ones are found.
The quantum mechanical relationships between time-dependent oscillators, Hamilton-Jacobi theory and an invariant operator are clarified by making reference to a system with a generalized oscillator. We introduce a linear transformation in position and momentum, and show that the correspondence between classical and quantum transformations is exactly one-to-one. We found that classical canonical transformations are constructed from quantum unitary transformations as long as we are concerned with linear transformations. We also show the relationship between the invariant operator and a linear transformation.
Operators conjugate to the Hamiltonian are constructed explicitly for the quantum harmonic oscillator by two approaches in the space spanned by the eigenstates of qqq and the eigenstates of ppp. The operators are quantum analogs of a classical angle variable divided by the oscillator frequency. Matrix elements have been evaluated in the coherent state representation. Either conjugate operator can be used to construct an explicitly time-dependent operator invariant. It can be used as the starting point in a new perturbative procedure for constructing invariant operators for nonlinear, nonautonomous Hamiltonians.
We consider general time-dependent quadratic Hamiltonian systems which are connected by canonical transformations and give the same classical equations of motion. In those systems, we demonstrate that canonical transformations in classical mechanics correspond to unitary transformations in quantum mechanics. The wave functions and the propagators are evaluated using the invariant operator method. However, the values of some functions of the canonical variables q and p are not equal to the values of the same functions of the other canonical variables Q and P, but the values of the functions of q and the kinetic momentum pk{\mathrm{p}}_{\mathrm{k}}pk​ are equal to those of the other Q and Pk{\mathrm{P}}_{\mathrm{k}}Pk​ in classical mechanics. We prove that these also hold in the quantum treatment. The uncertainty relations of momentum and position are evaluated for the two Hamiltonians.
The well-known difficulties of defining a phase operator of an oscillator are considered from the point of view of the canonical transformation to action and phase-angle variables. This transformation turns out to be nonbijective, i.e., it is not a one-to-one onto mapping. In order to make possible the unitarity of its representations in quantum optics we should enlarge the Hilbert space of the problem. In this enlarged space we find a phase operator that, after projection, reproduces previous candidates to represent a well-behaved phase operator in the quantum domain.
A class of time-dependent classical Lagrangians possessing an invariant quadratic in momentum is considered from a quantal point of view. Quantum mechanics is introduced through the Feynman propagator defined as a path integral involving the classical action. It is shown, without carrying out an explicit path integration, that the propagator for such a time-dependent system is related to the propagator of an associated time-independent problem. The expansion of the propagator in terms of the eigenfunctions of the invariant operator is derived and the equivalence of the present theory to that of Lewis and Reisenfeld (1969) is discussed. Explicit analytic forms of propagators are obtained for some cases to illustrate the application of the present approach.