We provide an answer to the long-standing problem of mixing quantum and classical dynamics within a single formalism. The construction is based on p -mechanical derivation of quantum and classical dynamics from the representation theory of the Heisenberg group. To achieve a quantum-classical mixing we take the product of two copies of the Heisenberg group which represent two different Planck's constants. In comparison with earlier guesses our answer contains an extra term of analytical nature, which was not obtained before in purely algebraic setup.
We provide an answer to the long-standing problem of mixing quantum and classical dynamics within a single formalism. The construction is based on p -mechanical derivation of quantum and classical dynamics from the representation theory of the Heisenberg group. To achieve a quantum-classical mixing we take the product of two copies of the Heisenberg group which represent two different Planck's constants. In comparison with earlier guesses our answer contains an extra term of analytical nature, which was not obtained before in purely algebraic setup.
Quantum-classical mixing is studied by a group-theoretical approach, and a quantum-classical equation of motion is derived. The quantum-classical bracket entering the equation preserves the Lie algebra structure of quantum and classical mechanics, and, therefore, leads to a natural description of interaction between quantum and classical degrees of freedom. The exact formalism is applied to coupled quantum and classical oscillators. Various approximations, such as the mean-field and the multiconfiguration mean-field approaches, which are of great utility in studying realistic multidimensional systems, are derived. Based on the formulation, a natural classification of the previously suggested quantum-classical equations of motion arises, and several problems from earlier works are resolved.
Observables of quantum or classical mechanics form algebras called quantum or classical Hamilton algebras (HAs), respectively (Grgin and Petersen 1974 J. Math. Phys. 15 764, Sahoo 1977 Pramana 8 545). We show that the tensor product of two quantum HAs, each characterized by a different Planck's constant (PC), is an algebra of the same type characterized by yet another PC. The algebraic structure of mixed quantum and classical systems is then analysed by taking the limit of vanishing PC in one of the component algebras. This approach provides new insight into failures of various formalisms dealing with mixed quantum–classical systems. It shows that in the interacting mixed quantum–classical description, there can be no back-reaction of the quantum system on the classical system. A natural algebraic requirement involving restriction of the tensor product of two quantum HAs to their components proves that PC is unique.
This thesis is concerned with the representation theory of the Heisenberg group and its applications to both classical and quantum mechanics. We continue the development of p-mechanics which is a consistent physical theory capable of describing both classical and quantum mechanics simultaneously. p-Mechanics starts from the observation that the one dimensional representations of the Heisenberg group play the same role in classical mechanics which the infinite dimensional representations play in quantum mechanics. In this thesis we introduce the idea of states to p-mechanics. p-Mechanical states come in two forms: elements of a Hilbert space and integration kernels. In developing p-mechanical states we show that quantum probability amplitudes can be obtained using solely functions/distributions on the Heisenberg group. This theory is applied to the examples of the forced, harmonic and coupled oscillators. In doing so we show that both the quantum and classical dynamics of these systems can be derived from the same source. Also using p-mechanics we simplify some of the current quantum mechanical calculations. We also analyse the role of both linear and non-linear canonical transformations in p-mechanics. We enhance a method derived by Moshinsky for studying the passage of canonical transformations from classical to quantum mechanics. The Kepler/Coulomb problem is also examined in the p-mechanical context. In analysing this problem we show some limitations of the current p-mechanical approach. We then use Klauder's coherent states to generate a Hilbert space which is particularly useful for the Kepler/Coulomb problem.
In the first part of this series we have shown how the Schrodinger equation for a single particle and the corresponding non relativistic quantum observables can be obtained from a purely classical phonon model through the Newtonian equations of motion. In this work we focus instead on how the classical Hamiltonian formalism applied to the same phonon system allows to recover the feature of relativistic quantum mechanics for a single spinless particle. Using the classical nature of the phonon model, we naturally define continuous Poisson brackets between classical observables, which allows to recover the dynamics of such observables, i.e. the Ehrenfest relations associated to real-valued Klein-Gordon fields. The Poisson brackets also permits to obtain the generic form of constants of motions, thus generalizing the concept of inner products and momentum on Klein-Gordon fields. We then connect the formalism of real-valued classical functionals with that of hermitian operators and complex-valued wave functions. This is done through the introduction of a non-local complex-valued change of variables which allows to rewrite the real-valued Klein-Gordon equation in a form akin to the Schrodinger equation, and the classical observables as quantum expectation values. Then, we show how this change of variables allows to rewrite the classical Poisson brackets as commutators of hermitian operators. This points out the strict equivalence between the Heisenberg formalism and the formalism of classical Poisson bracket. Eventually, we illustrate how the Poisson brackets allows to recover the transformations of Poincare group in 1+1 dimension together with its algebra. The latter makes the link between the Lorentz invariant inner product of Mostafazadeh and the Casimir invariant associated to the mass of particle.
This is an up-to-date survey of the p-mechanical construction (see funct-an/9405002, quant-ph/9610016, math-ph/0007030, quant-ph/0212101, quant-ph/0303142), which is a consistent physical theory suitable for a simultaneous description of classical and quantum mechanics. Observables in p-mechanics are defined to be convolution operators on the Heisenberg group H^n. Under irreducible representations of H^n the p-observables generate corresponding observables in classical and quantum mechanics. p-States are defined as positive linear functionals on p-observables. It is shown that both states and observables can be realised as certain sets of functions/distributions on the Heisenberg group. The dynamical equations for both p-observables and p-states are provided. The construction is illustrated by the forced and unforced harmonic oscillators. Connections with the contextual interpretation of quantum mechanics are discussed. Keywords: Classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, Moyal brackets, Poisson brackets, commutator, Heisenberg group, orbit method, deformation quantisation, symplectic group, representation theory, metaplectic representation, Berezin quantisation, Weyl quantisation, Segal--Bargmann--Fock space, coherent states, wavelet transform, Liouville equation, contextual interpretation, interaction picture, forced harmonic oscillator.
One can introduce so-called {\em Plain Mechanics} having an {\bf operator realization}. Then the set of one-dimension representations of this operator realization may be identified with the Classical Mechanics. Different irreducible infinite-dimension representations may be recognized as Quantum Mechanics for different ℏ (the Planck constant). It can be done in the such manner that the following diagram will be commutative. Plain Mechanics / \ / \ / \ Quantum Mechanics --> Classical Mechanics h->0 Here the horizontal arrow is well known correspondence between Quantum and Classical Mechanics if Planck constant tensing to zero. A {\em realization} of this scheme for a particle in n-dimensional space by two-sided convolutions on the Heisenberg group is constructed. We also introduce the {\em motion equations} for observables in this realization. The left arrow of the given diagram carries this equation to the Heisenberg one and the right arrow maps it to the Hamilton equation.