Quantum-mechanical dualities from classical phase space

Manuel Gadella

José M. Isidro

On classical phase spaces admitting just one complex-differentiable structure, there is no indeterminacy in the choice of the creation operators that create quanta out of a given vacuum. In these cases the notion of a quantum is universal, i.e., independent of the observer on classical phase space. Such is the case in all standard applications of quantum mechanics. However, recent developments suggest that the notion of a quantum may not be universal. Transformations between observers that do not agree on the notion of an elementary quantum are called dualities. Classical phase spaces admitting more than one complex-differentiable structure thus provide a natural framework to study dualities in quantum mechanics. As an example we quantise a classical mechanics whose phase space is a torus and prove explicitly that it exhibits dualities.

Franklin E. Schroeck

J. M. Isidro

On classical phase spaces admitting just one complex-differentiable structure, there is no indeterminacy in the choice of the creation operators that create quanta out of a given vacuum. In these cases the notion of a quantum is universal, i.e. independent of the observer on classical phase space. Such is the case in all standard applications of quantum mechanics. However, recent developments suggest that the notion of a quantum may not be universal. Transformations between observers that do not agree on the notion of an elementary quantum are called dualities. Classical phase spaces admitting more than one complex-differentiable structure thus provide a natural framework to study dualities in quantum mechanics. As an example we quantise a classical mechanics whose phase space is a torus and prove explicitly that it exhibits dualities.

Nicolaas P. Landsman

Ravo Tokiniaina Ranaivoson, Voriraza Séraphin Hejesoa, Raoelina Andriambololona +5 more

Wave-particle duality is often considered as the modern answer to the problem of the nature of light after more than 2000 years of questioning. It is also the answer given by quantum physics concerning the nature of matter particles and any other radiations. The main objective of this work is to analyze the relations that are existing between this concept of wave-particle duality, the uncertainty principle and the concepts of phase space and microstates considered in statistical mechanics. It is mainly highlighted that while the concepts of phase space and microstates were already introduced in classical physics before the discovery of the wave-particle duality, a correct understanding of them cannot be achieved without the use of the concept of quantum phase space and phase space representation of quantum mechanics which are directly related to the uncertainty principle. The possibility of using these concepts of quantum phase space and phase space representations of quantum mechanics to help in a deeper description of the wave-particle duality and in the study of some current issues related to foundational problems of quantum mechanics like quantum decoherence and the measurement problem is also discussed.