Essential properties of semiclassical approximation for quantum mechanics are viewed as axioms of an abstract semiclassical mechanics. Its symmetry properties are discussed. Semiclassical systems being invariant under Lie groups are considered. An infinitesimal analog of group relation is written. Sufficient conditions for reconstructing semiclassical group transformations (integrability of representation of Lie algebra) are discussed. The obtained results may be used for mathematical proof of Poincare invariance of semiclasical Hamiltonian field theory and for investigation of quantum anomalies.
We use semiclassical methods to evaluate the spectral two-point correlation function of quantum chaotic systems with discrete geometrical symmetries. The energy spectra of these systems can be divided into subspectra that are associated to irreducible representations of the corresponding symmetry group. We show that for (spinless) time reversal invariant systems the statistics inside these subspectra depend on the type of irreducible representation. For real representations the spectral statistics agree with those of the Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble (GOE) of Random Matrix Theory (RMT), whereas…
Van Holten's covariant algorithm for deriving conserved quantities is presented, with particular attention paid to Runge-Lenz-type vectors. The classical dynamics of isospin-carrying particles is reviewed. Physical applications including non-Abelian monopole-type systems in diatoms, introduced by Moody, Shapere and Wilczek, are considered. Applied to curved space, the formalism of van Holten allows us to describe the dynamical symmetries of generalized Kaluza-Klein monopoles. The framework is extended to supersymmetry and applied to the SUSY of the monopoles. Yet another application concerns t…
A class of singular integral operators, encompassing two physically relevant cases arising in perturbative QCD and in classical fluid dynamics, is presented and analyzed. It is shown that three special values of the parameters allow for an exact eigenfunction expansion; these can be associated to Riemannian symmetric spaces of rank one with positive, negative or vanishing curvature. For all other cases an accurate semiclassical approximation is derived, based on the identification of the operators with a peculiar Schroedinger-like operator.
A non-associative algebra of observables cannot be represented as operators on a Hilbert space, but it may appear in certain physical situations. This article employs algebraic methods in order to derive uncertainty relations and semiclassical equations, based on general properties of quantum moments.
We study operators of Kramers-Fokker-Planck type in the semiclassical limit, assuming that the exponent of the associated Maxwellian is a Morse function with a finite number $n_0$ of local minima. Under suitable additional assumptions, we show that the first $n_0$ eigenvalues are real and exponentially small, and establish the complete semiclassical asymptotics for these eigenvalues.
We study a single particle which obeys non-relativistic quantum mechanics in R^N and has Hamiltonian H = -Delta + V(r), where V(r) = sgn(q)r^q. If N \geq 2, then q > -2, and if N = 1, then q > -1. The discrete eigenvalues E_{n\ell} may be represented exactly by the semiclassical expression E_{n\ell}(q) = min_{r>0}\{P_{n\ell}(q)^2/r^2+ V(r)}. The case q = 0 corresponds to V(r) = ln(r). By writing one power as a smooth transformation of another, and using envelope theory, it has earlier been proved that the P_{n\ell}(q) functions are monotone increasing. Recent refinements to the comparison theo…
Recently Ohsawa has studied the Marsden-Weinstein-Meyer quotient of the manifold $T^*\mathbb{R}^n\times T^*\mathbb{R}^{2n^2}$ under a $\operatorname{O}(2n)$-symmetry, and has used this quotient to describe the relationship between two different parametrisations of Gaussian wave packet dynamics commonly used in semiclassical mechanics. In this paper we suggest a new interpretation of (a subset of) the unreduced space as being the frame bundle $\mathcal{F}(T^*\mathbb{R}^n)$ of $T^*\mathbb{R}^n$. We outline some advantages of this interpretation, and explain how it can be extended to more general…
The semiclassical mechanics of the Wigner 6j-symbol is examined from the standpoint of WKB theory for multidimensional, integrable systems, to explore the geometrical issues surrounding the Ponzano-Regge formula. The relations among the methods of Roberts and others for deriving the Ponzano-Regge formula are discussed, and a new approach, based on the recoupling of four angular momenta, is presented. A generalization of the Yutsis-type of spin network is developed for this purpose. Special attention is devoted to symplectic reduction, the reduced phase space of the 6j-symbol (the 2-sphere of K…
Integrable and superintegrable quantum mechanical systems with position dependent masses invariant with respect to one parametric Lie groups. 2. Systems with dilatation and shift symmetries
We study a special kind of semiclassical limit of quantum dynamics on a circle and in a box (infinite potential well with hard walls) as the Planck constant tends to zero and time tends to infinity. The results give detailed information about all stages of evolution of quantum wave packets: semiclassical motion, collapses, revivals, as well as intermediate stages. In particular, we rigorously justify the fact that the spatial distribution of a wave packet is most of the time close to uniform. This fact was previously known only from numerical calculations. We apply the obtained results to a pr…
We analyze the relation of the notion of a pluri-Lagrangian system, which recently emerged in the theory of integrable systems, to the classical notion of variational symmetry, due to E. Noether. We treat classical mechanical systems and show that, for any Lagrangian system with $m$ commuting variational symmetries, one can construct a pluri-Lagrangian 1-form in the $(m+1)$-dimensional time, whose multi-time Euler-Lagrange equations coincide with the original system supplied with $m$ commuting evolutionary flows corresponding to the variational symmetries. We also give a Hamiltonian counterpar…
In spite of its long history and classical character which goes back even to d'Alembert and Lagrange, the problems of constraints in mechanics of continua is still mysterious and full of misunderstandings. Let us mention the problem of difference between special solutions of unconstrained systems and constraints dynamics, holonomic and nonholonomic constrained, various versions of so-called vakonomy, sub-Riemannian structures, servoconstraints, and programme motion. There are some strange confusions between field theory and mechanics of continua; many problems call for conceptual cleaning, alt…
We describe some semiclassical spectral properties of Harper-like operators, i.e. of one-dimensional quantum Hamiltonians periodic in both momentum and position. The spectral region corresponding to the separatrices of the classical Hamiltonian is studied for the case of integer flux. We derive asymptotic formula for the dispersion relations, the width of bands and gaps, and show how geometric characteristics and the absence of symmetries of the Hamiltonian influence the form of the energy bands.
Exact procedures that follow Dirac's constraint quantization of gauge theories are usually technically involved and often difficult to implement in practice. We overview an "effective" scheme for obtaining the leading order semiclassical corrections to the dynamics of constrained quantum systems developed elsewhere. Motivated by the geometrical view of quantum mechanics, our method mimics the classical Dirac-Bergmann algorithm and avoids direct reference to a particular representation of the physical Hilbert space. We illustrate the procedure through the example of a relativistic particle in M…
We consider Noether symmetries within Hamiltonian setting as transformations that preserve Poincaré-Cartan form, i.e., as symmetries of characteristic line bundles of nondegenerate 1-forms. In the case when the Poincaré-Cartan form is contact, the explicit expression for the symmetries in the inverse Noether theorem is given. As examples, we consider natural mechanical systems, in particular the Kepler problem. Finally, we prove a variant of the theorem on complete (non-commutative) integrability in terms of Noether symmetries of time-dependent Hamiltonian systems.
The exactness of the semiclassical method for three-dimensional problems in quantum mechanics is analyzed. The wave equation appropriate in the quasiclassical region is derived. It is shown that application of the standard leading-order WKB quantization condition to this equation reproduces exact energy eigenvalues for all solvable spherically symmetric potentials.
We present an old and regretfully forgotten method by Jacobi which allows one to find many Lagrangians of simple classical models and also of nonconservative systems. We underline that the knowledge of Lie symmetries generates Jacobi last multipliers and each of the latter yields a Lagrangian. Then it is shown that Noether's theorem can identify among those Lagrangians the physical Lagrangian(s) that will successfully lead to quantization. The preservation of the Noether symmetries as Lie symmetries of the corresponding Schrödinger equation is the key that takes classical mechanics into quantu…
In the framework of Galilei classical mechanics (i.e., general relativistic classical mechanics on a spacetime with absolute time) developed by Jadczyk and Modugno, we analyse systematically the relations between symmetries of the geometric objects. We show that the (holonomic) infinitesimal symmetries of the cosymplectic structure on spacetime and of its potentials are also symmetries of spacelike metric, gravitational and electromagnetic fields, Euler-Lagrange morphism, Lagrangians. Then, we provide a covariant momentum map associated with a group of cosymplectic symmetries by using a covari…
We present several recent results concerning the transition between quantum and classical mechanics, in the situation where the underlying dynamical system has an hyperbolic behaviour. The special role of invariant manifolds will be emphasized, and the long time evolution will show how the quantum non-determinism and the classical chaotic sensitivity to initial conditions can be compared, and in a certain sense overlap.
Starting from the groupoid approach to Schwinger's picture of Quantum Mechanics, a proposal for the description of symmetries in this framework is advanced.It is shown that, given a groupoid $G\rightrightarrows Ω$ associated with a (quantum) system, there are two possible descriptions of its symmetries, one "microscopic", the other one "global".The microscopic point of view leads to the introduction of an additional layer over the grupoid $G$, giving rise to a suitable algebraic structure of 2-groupoid.On the other hand, taking advantage of the notion of group of bisections of a given groupoid…
We review the geometric formulation of the second Noether's theorem in time-dependent mechanics. The commutation relations between the dynamics on the final constraint manifold and the infinitesimal generator of a symmetry are studied. We show an algorithm for determining a gauge symmetry which is closely related to the process of stabilization of constraints, both in Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms. The connections between both formalisms are established by means of the time-evolution operator.
We compute the semiclassical formulas for the partition functions obtained using two different Lagrangians: the Chern-Simons functional and the symplectic action functional.
In this article, we study the asymptotic fields of the Yukawa particle-field model of quantum physics, in the semiclassical regime $\hslash\to 0$, with an interaction subject to an ultraviolet cutoff. We show that the transition amplitudes between final (respectively initial) states converge towards explicit quantities involving the outgoing (respectively incoming) wave operators of the nonlinear Schrödinger-Klein-Gordon (S-KG) equation. Thus, we rigorously link the scattering theory of the Yukawa model to that of the Schrödinger-Klein-Gordon equation. Moreover, we prove that the asymptotic va…
Symmetries of variational problems are considered as symmetries of vector bundle valued exterior differential systems. This approach is then applied to third order ordinary variational equations of motion of the semi-classical spinning particle.
In Hamiltonian mechanics, a (continuous) symmetry leads to conserved quantity, which is a function on (extended) phase space. In Nambu mechanics, a straightforward consequence of symmetry is just a relative integral invariant, a differential form which only upon integration over a cycle provides a conserved real number. The origin of the difference may be traced back to a shift in degrees of relevant forms present in equations of motion, or, alternatively, to a corresponding shift in degrees of relevant objects in action integral for Nambu mechanics.
We investigate how the Lax-Novikov integral in the perfectly invisible $PT$-regularized zero-gap quantum conformal and superconformal mechanics systems affects on their (super)-conformal symmetries. We show that the expansion of the conformal symmetry with this integral results in a nonlinearly extended generalized Shrödinger algebra. The $PT$-regularized superconformal mechanics systems in the phase of the unbroken exotic nonlinear $\mathcal{N}=4$ super-Poincaré symmetry are described by nonlinearly super-extended Schrödinger algebra with the $osp(2|2)$ sub-superalgebra. In the partially brok…
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…
We study the spectrum generating closed nonlinear superconformal algebra that describes $\mathcal{N}=2$ super-extensions of rationally deformed quantum harmonic oscillator and conformal mechanics models with coupling constant $g=m(m+1)$, $m\in {\mathbb N}$. It has a nature of a nonlinear finite $W$ superalgebra being generated by higher derivative integrals, and generally contains several different copies of either deformed superconformal $\mathfrak{osp}(2|2)$ algebra in the case of super-extended rationally deformed conformal mechanics models, or deformed super-Schrodinger algebra in the case…
In quantum mechanics, systems can be described in phase space in terms of the Wigner function and the star-product operation. Quantum characteristics, which appear in the Heisenberg picture as the Weyl's symbols of operators of canonical coordinates and momenta, can be used to solve the evolution equations for symbols of other operators acting in the Hilbert space. To any fixed order in the Planck's constant, many-body potential scattering problem simplifies to a statistical-mechanical problem of computing an ensemble of quantum characteristics and their derivatives with respect to the initial…
The Newton--Hooke duality and its generalization to arbitrary power laws in classical, semiclassical and quantum mechanics are discussed. We pursue a view that the power-law duality is a symmetry of the action under a set of duality operations. The power dual symmetry is defined by invariance and reciprocity of the action in the form of Hamilton's characteristic function. We find that the power-law duality is basically a classical notion and breaks down at the level of angular quantization. We propose an ad hoc procedure to preserve the dual symmetry in quantum mechanics. The energy-coupling e…
