To simulate a quantum system with continuous degrees of freedom on a quantum computer based on quantum digits, it is necessary to reduce continuous observables (primarily coordinates and momenta) to discrete observables. We consider this problem based on expanding quantum observables in series in powers of two and three analogous to the binary and ternary representations of real numbers. The coefficients of the series ("digits") are, therefore, Hermitian operators. We investigate the corresponding quantum mechanical operators and the relations between them and show that the binary and ternary expansions of quantum observables automatically leads to renormalization of some divergent integrals and series (giving them finite values).
We re-examine the appearance of semiheaps and (para-associative) ternary algebras in quantum mechanics. In particular, we review the construction of a semiheap on a Hilbert space and the set of bounded operators on a Hilbert space. The new aspect of this work is a discussion of how symmetries of a quantum system induce homomorphisms of the relevant semiheaps and ternary algebras.
In the paper is presented an invariant quantization procedure of classical mechanics on the phase space over flat configuration space. Then, the passage to an operator representation of quantum mechanics in a Hilbert space over configuration space is derived. An explicit form of position and momentum operators as well as their appropriate ordering in arbitrary curvilinear coordinates is demonstrated. Finally, the extension of presented formalism onto non-flat case and related ambiguities of the process of quantization are discussed.
This paper presents the general theory of canonical transformations of coordinates in quantum mechanics. First, the theory is developed in the formalism of phase space quantum mechanics. It is shown that by transforming a star-product, when passing to a new coordinate system, observables and states transform as in classical mechanics, i.e., by composing them with a transformation of coordinates. Then the developed formalism of coordinate transformations is transferred to a standard formulation of quantum mechanics. In addition, the developed theory is illustrated on examples of particular clas…
We consider a problem of the consistent deformation of physical system introducing a new features, but preserving its fundamental properties. In particular, we study how to implement the noncommutativity of space-time without violation of the rotational symmetry in quantum mechanics or the Lorentz symmetry in f{i}eld theory. Since the canonical (Moyal) noncommutativity breaks the above symmetries one should work with more general case of coordinate-dependent noncommutative spaces, when the commutator between coordinates is a function of these coordinates. F{i}rst we describe in general lines h…
In nonrelativistic quantum mechanics and in relativistic quantum field theory, time t is a parameter and thus the time-reversal operator T does not actually reverse the sign of t. However, in relativistic quantum mechanics the time coordinate t and the space coordinates x are treated on an equal footing and all are operators. In this paper it is shown how to extend PT symmetry from nonrelativistic to relativistic quantum mechanics by implementing time reversal as an operation that changes the sign of the time coordinate operator t. Some illustrative relativistic quantum-mechanical models are c…
We develop simple rules for performing integrals over products of distributions in coordinate space. Such products occur in perturbation expansions of path integrals in curvilinear coordinates, where the interactions contain terms of the form dot q^2 q^n, which give rise to highly singular Feynman integrals. The new rules ensure the invariance of perturbatively defined path integrals under coordinate transformations.
In this tenth paper of the series we aim at showing that our formalism, using the Wigner-Moyal Infinitesimal Transformation together with classical mechanics, endows us with the ways to quantize a system in any coordinate representation we wish. This result is necessary if one even think about making general relativistic extensions of the quantum formalism. Besides, physics shall not be dependent on the specific representation we use and this result is necessary to make quantum theory consistent and complete.
We consider a general symplectic transformation (also known as linear canonical transformation) of quantum-mechanical observables in a quantized version of a finite-dimensional system with configuration space isomorphic to $ \mathbb{R}^{q} $. Using the formalism of rigged Hilbert spaces, we define eigenstates for all the observables. Then we work out the explicit form of the corresponding transformation of these eigenstates. A few examples are included at the end of the paper.
Quantum mechanics is often developed in the position representation, but this is not necessary, and one can perform calculations in a representation-independent fashion, even for wavefunctions. In this work, we illustrate how one can determine wavefunctions, aside from normalization, using only operators and how those operators act on state vectors. To do this in plane polar and spherical coordinates requires one to convert the translation operator into those coordinates. As examples of this approach, we illustrate the solution of the Coulomb problem in two and three dimensions without needing…
In quantum mechanics textbooks the momentum operator is defined in the Cartesian coordinates and rarely the form of the momentum operator in spherical polar coordinates is discussed. Consequently one always generalizes the Cartesian prescription to other coordinates and falls in a trap. In this work we introduce the difficulties one faces when the question of the momentum operator in general curvilinear coordinates arises. We have tried to elucidate the points related to the definition of the momentum operator taking spherical polar coordinates as our specimen coordinate system and proposed an…
We study an analogue of the equations describing TE and TM modes in a planar waveguide with an arbitrary continuous dependence of the electric permittivity and magnetic permeability on coordinates with the stationary Schrödinger equation. The effective potential energies involved in the Schrödinger equation for TE and TM modes are found. In general, the effective potential energies for TE and TM modes are different but in the limit of a weak dependence of the permittivity and permeability on coordinates they coincide. In the case when the product of a position-dependent permittivity and permea…
Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics may be used to construct reflectionless potentials and phase-equivalent potentials. The exactly solvable case of the $λsech^2$ potential is used to show that for certain values of the strength $λ$ the phase-equivalent singular potential arising from the elimination of all the boundstates is identical to the original potential evaluated at a point shifted in the complex cordinate space. This equivalence has the consequence that certain general relations valid for reflectionless potentials and phase-equivalent potentials lead to hitherto unknown identities satisf…
We propose an alternative solution to a quantum-mechanical four-particle system in one dimension with two- and three-particle interactions. The solution of the eigenvalue equation in center-of-mass and Jacobi coordinates is considerably simpler than a procedure proposed recently based on spherical coordinates.
We show that the supersymmetric algebra of Witten's quantum mechanics is invariant under a given point canonical transformation. It is shown that Witten's supersymmetric quantum mechanics can be isospectral or not to the seed Hamiltonian depending on the space coordinate you work on. We illustrate our results by generating a new class of exactly solvable supersymmetric partner Hamiltonians which are not isospectral to the seed Hamiltonian.
The hydrogen atom is a system amenable to an exact treatment within Schroedinger's formulation of quantum mechanics according to coordinates in four systems -- spherical polar, paraboloidal, ellipsoidal and spheroconical coordinates; the latter solution is reported for the first time. Applications of these solutions include angular momenta, a quantitative calculation of the absorption spectrum and accurate plots of surfaces of amplitude functions. The shape of an amplitude function, and even the quantum numbers in a particular set to specify such an individual function, depend on the coordinat…
Any quantum-mechanical system possesses a U(1) gerbe naturally defined on configuration space. Acting on Feynman's kernel exp(iS/h), this U(1) symmetry allows one to arbitrarily pick the origin for the classical action S, on a point-by-point basis on configuration space. This is equivalent to the statement that quantum mechanics is a U(1) gauge theory. Unlike Yang-Mills theories, however, the geometry of this gauge symmetry is not given by a fibre bundle, but rather by a gerbe. Since this gauge symmetry is spontaneously broken, an analogue of the Higgs mechanism must be present. We prove that …
Based on an exposition of the underlying physics and applied mathematics in arXiv:1603.00899, this paper in five separate parts presents a description of the properties of the amplitude functions of the hydrogen atom according to wave mechanics in the coordinate representation in all four systems of coordinates in which Schroedinger's equations are separable, explicitly I spherical polar coordinates, II paraboloidal coordinates, III ellipsoidal coordinates and IV spheroconical coordinates; part V discusses the implications of these multiple systems in which these atomic orbitals can be directl…
We consider the algebra associated to a group of transformations which are symmetries of a regular mechanical system (i.e. system free of constraints). For time dependent coordinate transformations we show that a central extension may appear at the classical level which is coordinate and momentum independent. A cochain formalism naturally arises in the argument and extends the usual configuration space cochain concepts to phase space.
By using the multipolar gauge it is shown that the quantum mechanics of an electrically charged particle moving in a prescribed classical electromagnetic field (wave mechanics) may be expressed in a manner that is gauge invariant, except that the only gauge functions that are allowable in a gauge transformation are those that consist of the sum of a function that depends only on the space coordinates and a term that is the product of a constant and the time coordinate. The multipolar gauge specifies the specific set of potentials that are best suited for use in the Schroedinger equation.
In a recent paper we have suggested that a formulation of quantum mechanics should exist, which does not require the concept of time, and that the appropriate mathematical language for such a formulation is noncommutative differential geometry. In the present paper we discuss this formulation for the free point particle, by introducing a commutation relation for a set of noncommuting coordinates. The sought for background independent quantum mechanics is derived from this commutation relation for the coordinates. We propose that the basic equations are invariant under automorphisms which map o…
The propagator of a spinless particle is calculated from the quantum mechanical path integral formalism in static curved spacetimes endowed with event-horizons. A toy model, the Gui spacetime, and the 2D and 4D Schwarzschild black holes are considered. The role of the topology of the coordinates configuration space is emphasised in this framework. To cover entirely the above spacetimes with a single set of coordinates, tortoise coordinates are extended to complex values. It is shown that the homotopic properties of the complex tortoise configuration space imply the thermal behaviour of the pro…
It is shown that probabilistic treatment of quantum mechanics can be coordinated with causality of all physical processes. The physical interpretation of quantum-mechanical phenomena such as process of measurement and collapse of quantum state is given.
The supposed equivalence of the conventional interpretation of quantum mechanics with Bohm's interpretation is generally demonstrated only in the coordinate representation. It is shown, however, that in the momentum representation this equivalence is not valid.
In quantum mechanics textbooks the momentum operator is defined in the Cartesian coordinates and rarely the form of the momentum operator in spherical polar coordinates is discussed. Consequently one always generalizes the Cartesian prescription to other coordinates and falls in a trap. In this work we introduce the difficulties one faces when the question of the momentum operator in spherical polar coordinate comes. We have tried to point out most of the elementary quantum mechanical results, related to the momentum operator, which has coordinate dependence. We explicitly calculate the moment…
The anti self-adjoint operators of coordinate and momentum are introduced and applied in discussion of tunneling through the potential barrier where imaginary value of momentum unavoidably appears. Tunneling through temporal barrier is proceeded in a similar way and it is shown that the quantum system can tunnel, while the classical systems are destroyed by such barrier. The imaginary observables of coordinate and momentum are used in a novel treatment of passage through the event horizon. By considering the event horizon as the border of the finite potential barrier, it is found that there is…
Recently it has been proposed, using the formalism of positive-operator-valued measures, a possible definition of quantum coordinates for events in the context of quantum mechanics. In this short note we analyze this definition from the point of view of local algebras in the framework of local quantum theories.
Internal global symmetries exist for the free non-relativistic Schrödinger particle, whose associated Noether charges--the space integrals of the wavefunction and the wavefunction multiplied by the spatial coordinate--are exhibited. Analogous symmetries in classical electromagnetism are also demonstrated.
Effects of noncommutativity are investigated in planar quantum mechanics in the coordinate representation. Generally these issues are addressed by converting to the momentum space. In the first part of the work we show noncommutative effects in a Gaussian wavepacket through the broadening of its width. We also rederive results on *-product of Gaussian wavepackets. In the second part, we construct a "Master" model for a noncommutative harmonic oscillator by embedding it in an extended space. Different gauge choices leading to different forms of noncommutativity, (such as between coordinates onl…
We consider a five dimensional (5D) space-time with a space-like fifth dimension. We implement a quantum formalism by path integrals, and postulate that all the physical information on a 5D massless particle propagation is provided by the statistics over null paths in this 5D space-time. If the 5D metric is independent of the fifth coordinate, then the propagation problem can be reduced to four dimensions by foliation along the fifth coordinate, and we obtain a formulation of 4D Quantum Mechanics. If the 5D metric is independent of time, we foliate along the time coordinate, and obtain a formu…
Newtonian physics is describes macro-objects sufficiently well, however it does not describe microobjects. A model of Extended Mechanics for Quantum Theory is based on an axiomatic generalization of Newtonian classical laws to arbitrary reference frames postulating the description of body dynamics by differential equations with higher derivatives of coordinates with respect to time but not only of second order ones and follows from Mach principle. In that case the Lagrangian $L(t,q,\dot{q},\ddot{q},...,\dot {q}^{(n)},...)$ depends on higher derivatives of coordinates with respect to time. The …
In perturbative calculations of quantum mechanical path integrals in curvilinear coordinates, Feynman diagrams involve multiple temporal integrals over products of distributions, which are mathematically undefined. We derive simple rules for their evaluation from the requirement of coordinate independence of path integrals.
On the basis of a manifestly covariant formalism of non-relativistic quantum mechanics in general coordinate systems, proposed by us recently, we derive general expressions for inertial forces. The results enable us further to discuss, and to explain the validity of, the equivalence principle in non-relativistic quantum mechanics.
