Skip to main content
Log in

Embedding of the classical into the quantum description of photons

  • Part III. Invited Papers Dedicated to Constantin Piron
  • Published:
Foundations of Physics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The macroscopic properties of a many-particle quantum system are revealed by an embedding of the macroscopic classical into the microscopic quantum description of the system. Such an embedding is based on the assumption that the experiments to which the classical theory applies may also be described quantum mechanically. It results from the existence of an injective trajectory observable. For photon quantum systems with a finite number of modes an embedding is explicitly constructed using the well- known phase space observable for quantum systems of finite degrees of freedom. For the general case of photon quantum fields the existence of a phase space observable is shown which, restricted to a finite number of modes, coincides with the mentioned one.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. G. Ludwig,An Axiomatic Basis for Quantum Mechanics I, II (Springer, Berlin, 1987).

    Google Scholar 

  2. H. Neumann,Commun. Math. Phys. 23, 100 (1971).

    Google Scholar 

  3. E. B. Davies,Quantum Theory Of Open Systgems (Academic Press, London, 1976).

    Google Scholar 

  4. J. E. Moyal,Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 45, 99 (1949); M. S. Bartlett and J. E. Moyal,Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 45, 545 (1949).

    Google Scholar 

  5. D. T. Pegg and S. M. Barnett,Europhys. Lett. 6, 483 (1988);Phys. Rev. A 39, 1665 (1989);Phys. Rev. A 41, 3427 (1990);Phys. Rev. A 42, 6713 (1990).

    Google Scholar 

  6. J. A. Vaccaro and D. P. Pegg,Phys. Rev. A 41, 5165 (1990).

    Google Scholar 

  7. A. Luis and L. Luis, L. Sánchez-Soto,Phys. Rev. A 47, 1492 (1993).

    Google Scholar 

  8. L. Susskind and J. Glogower,Physics 1, 49 (1964).

    Google Scholar 

  9. P. A. M. Dirac,Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 109, 642 (1925).

    Google Scholar 

  10. I. M. Gelfand and N. J. Vilenkin,Verallgemeinerte Funktionen (Distributionen) IV (DVW, Berlin, 1964).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Enderle, M., Neumann, H. Embedding of the classical into the quantum description of photons. Found Phys 24, 1415–1424 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02283041

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02283041

Keywords

Navigation