We sketch a group-theoretical framework, based on the Heisenberg–Weyl group, encompassing both quantum and classical statistical descriptions of unconstrained, non-relativistic mechanical systems. We redefine in group-theoretical terms a kinematical arena and a space of statistical states of a system, achieving a unified quantum-classical language and an elegant version of the quantum-to-classical transition. We briefly discuss the structure of observables and dynamics within our framework.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
H. Weyl, Gruppentheorie und Quantenmechanik (S. Hirzel, Lepzig 1928); English translation: Theory of Groups and Quantum Mechanics (Dover, New York 1950).
E. P. Wigner, Gruppentheorie und ihre Anwendung auf die Quantenmechanik der Atomspektren (F. Vieweg und Sohn, Braunschweig, 1931); English translation Group Theory and its Application to the Quantum Mechanics of Atomic Spectra, expanded and improved ed. (Academic Press, New York 1959).
R. F. Werner, quant-ph/9504016.
N. P. Landsman, in Handbook of Philosophy of Science, Vol 2: Philosophy of Physics, J. Butterfield and J. Earman, eds. (North Holland, Amsterdam 2006).
Wigner E. (1932). Phys. Rev. 40: 749
Moyal J.E. (1949). Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 45: 99
Schleich W.P. (2001) Quantum Optics in Phase Space. Wiley-VCH, Berlin
Folland G. (1995) A Course in Abstract Harmonic Analysis. CRC Press, Boca Raton
Abramowitz M., Stegun I. eds. (1965) Handbook of Mathematical Functions. Dover, New York
Mielnik B. (1974). Commun. Math. Phys. 37: 221
Perelomov A. (1986) Generalized Coherent States and Their Applications. Springer, Berlin
Haag R. (1996) Local Quantum Physics: Fields, Particles, Algebras, 2nd. rev. and enlarged ed. Springer Verlag, Berlin
Gu Y. (1985). Phys. Rev. A 32: 1310
Wódkiewicz K. (1984). Phys. Rev. Lett. 52: 1064
E. C. G. Sudarshan, Phys. Rev. Lett. 10, 277 (1963); R. J. Glauber, Phys. Rev. 131, 2766 (1963).
Davidović D.M., Lalović D. (1998). J. Phys. A 31: 2281
It only satisfies a modified, “twisted” condition: \(\int\int{\rm d}^n \xi {\rm d}^n \eta {\rm d}^n \xi '{\rm d}^n {\eta}'\,\overline{f( \eta, \xi)} e^{-\frac{i}{2\hbar}\omega[(\eta, \xi), ({\eta}', {\xi}')]} \chi_\varrho({\eta}' - \eta, {\xi}' - \xi )f(\eta', {\xi}')\ge 0,\) which has been studied e.g. in T Bröcker and R. F. Werner, J. Math. Phys. 36, 62 (1995).
J. Naudts and M. Kuna, J. Phys. A 34, 9265 (2001); J. Naudts, in Quantum Theory And Symmetries, Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium, E. Kapuścik and A. Horzela, eds. (World Scientific, Singapore 2002).
T. Kaluza, Sitzungsber. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin (Math. Phys.) K1, 966 (1921). O. Klein, Z. Phys. 37, 895 (1926).
However, our approach can be recasted in a C *-algebraic language: for a locally compact kinematical group G, the convolution algebra L 1(G) can be equipped with a suitable norm turning it (after completion) into a C *-algebra C *(G) (see e.g. J. Dixmier, C * Algebras, (North Holland, Amsterdam 1982, or Ref. 8). Then, each \(\phi\in\,\mathcal {P}_1(G)\) defines (after suitable manipulations) a positive normalized functional on C *(G), so it is a state in the algebraic terminology. In this reformulation, the role of the (usually abstract) C *-algebra of observables is played by the group C *-algebra C *(G).
R. F. Werner, Phys. Rev. A 40, 4277 (1989); M. Lewenstein, D. Bruss, J. I. Cirac, B. Kraus, M. Kuś, J. Samsonowicz, A. Sanpera, and R. Tarrach, J. Mod. Opt. 47, 2841 (2000).
Korbicz J.K., Lewenstein M. (2006) Phys. Rev. A 74: 022318
Ripamonti N. (1996). J. Phys. A 29: 5137
Gnutzmann S., Kuś M. (1998). J. Phys. A 31: 9871
J. Madore, Class. Quant. Grav. 9, 69 (1992); C. S. Chu, J. Madore, and H. Steinacker, JHEP 0108, 038 (2001); A. P. Balachandran, B. P. Dolan, J. Lee, X. Martin, and D. O’Connor, J. Geom. Phys. 43, 184 (2002).
Mackey G. (1963) The Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics. Benjamin, New York
Beltrametti E.G., Cassinelli G. (1981) The Logic of Quantum Mechanics. Addison-Wesley, Massachusetts
Grinbaum A. (2005). Found. Phys. Lett. 18: 563
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Korbicz, J.K., Lewenstein, M. Remark on a Group-Theoretical Formalism for Quantum Mechanics and the Quantum-to-Classical Transition. Found Phys 37, 879–896 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-007-9130-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-007-9130-z