The paper provides an introduction into p-mechanics, which is a consistent physical theory suitable for a simultaneous description of classical and quantum mechanics. p-Mechanics naturally provides a common ground for several different approaches to quantisation (geometric, Weyl, coherent states, Berezin, deformation, Moyal, etc.) and has a potential for expansions into field and string theories. The backbone of p-mechanics is solely the representation theory of the Heisenberg group. 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, contextual interpretation, string theory, field theory.
It has been established that endowing classical phase space with a Riemannian metric is sufficient for describing quantum mechanics. In this letter we argue that, while sufficient, the above condition is certainly not necessary in passing from classical to quantum mechanics. Instead, our approach to quantum mechanics is modelled on a statement that closely resembles Darboux's theorem for symplectic manifolds.
In the spirit of geometric quantisation we consider representations of the Heisenberg(--Weyl) group induced by hypercomplex characters of its centre. This allows to gather under the same framework, called p-mechanics, the three principal cases: quantum mechanics (elliptic character), hyperbolic mechanics and classical mechanics (parabolic character). In each case we recover the corresponding dynamic equation as well as rules for addition of probabilities. Notably, we are able to obtain whole classical mechanics without any kind of semiclassical limit h->0. Keywords: Heisenberg group, Kirillov'…
The results, different aspects and applications of our method of quantisation on configuration manifolds - called Borel Quantisation - were presented at meetings of the series `Symmetries in Science' and can be found in the published proceedings. The developments with numerous coauthors, on Borel quantisation and the related family of nonlinear Schrödinger equations called Doebner-Goldin equations, are reviewed and commented here.
In this article I shall clarify various aspects of the Dirac quantisation rules of 1930\cite{Dirac}, namely (i) the choice of antisymmetric Poisson brackets, (ii) the first quantisation Rule 1 (iii) the second quantisation Rule 2, and their relations to the trace anomaly. In fact in 1925 Dirac already had a preliminarily formulation of these rules \cite{Dirac3}. Using them, he had independently rediscovered the Born-Jordan quantisation rule \cite{BornJordan1925} and called it the quantum condition. This is the best known and undoubtedly most significant of the canonical quantisation rules of q…
In most introductory courses on electrodynamics, one is taught the electric charge is quantised but no theoretical explanation related to this law of nature is offered. Such an explanation is postponed to graduate courses on electrodynamics, quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, where the famous Dirac quantisation condition is introduced, which states that a single magnetic monopole in the Universe would explain the electric charge quantisation. Even when this condition assumes the existence of a not-yet-detected magnetic monopole, it provides the most accepted explanation for the observ…
Generic higher derivative theories are believed to be fundamentally unphysical because they contain Ostrogradsky ghosts. We show that within complex classical mechanics it is possible to construct higher derivative theories that circumvent the Ostrogradsky theorem and have a real energy spectrum that is bounded from below. The complex theory can be canonically quantised. The resulting quantum theory does not suffer from the kinetic instability and maintains the usual probabilistic interpretation without violating the correspondence principle. As a proof of concept, we construct a class of stab…
We study the deformation quantisation (Moyal quantisation) of general constrained Hamiltonian systems. It is shown how second class constraints can be turned into first class quantum constraints. This is illustrated by the O(N) non-linear $σ$-model. Some new light is also shed on the Dirac bracket. Furthermore, it is shown how classical constraints not in involution with the classical Hamiltonian, can be turned into quantum constraints {\em in} involution with respect to the Hamiltonian. Conditions on the existence of anomalies are also derived, and it is shown how some kinds of anomalies can …
Mathematical modeling should present a consistent description of physical phenomena. We illustrate an inconsistency with two Hamiltonians -- the standard Hamiltonian and an example found in Goldstein -- for the simple harmonic oscillator and its quantisation. Both descriptions are rich in Lie point symmetries and so one can calculate many Jacobi Last Multipliers and therefore Lagrangians. The Last Multiplier provides the route to the resolution of this problem and indicates that the great debate about the quantisation of dissipative systems should never have occurred.
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 …
A formulation of quantum mechanics with additive and multiplicative (q-)difference operators instead of differential operators is studied from first principles. Borel-quantisation on smooth configuration spaces is used as guiding quantisation method. After a short discussion this method is translated step-by-step to a framework based on difference operators. To restrict the resulting plethora of possible quantisations additional assumptions motivated by simplicity and plausibility are required. Multiplicative difference operators and the corresponding q-Borel kinematics are given on the circle…
The quantisation of gauge invariant systems usually proceeds through some gauge fixing procedure of one type or another. Typically for most cases, such gauge fixings are plagued by Gribov ambiguities, while it is only for an admissible gauge fixing that the correct dynamical description of the system is represented, especially with regards to non perturbative phenomena. However, any gauge fixing procedure whatsoever may be avoided altogether, by using rather a recently proposed new approach based on the projection operator onto physical gauge invariant states only, which is necessarily free on…
The classical mechanics of a finite number of degrees of freedom requires a symplectic structure on phase space C, but it is independent of any complex structure. On the contrary, the quantum theory is intimately linked with the choice of a complex structure on C. When the latter is a complex-analytic manifold admitting just one complex structure, there is a unique quantisation whose classical limit is C. Then the notion of coherence is the same for all observers. However, when C admits two or more nonbiholomorphic complex structures, there is one different quantisation per different complex s…
Recent developments concerning canonical quantisation and gauge invariant quantum mechanical systems and quantum field theories are briefly discussed. On the one hand, it is shown how diffeomorphic covariant representations of the Heisenberg algebra over curved manifolds of non trivial topology involve topology classes of flat U(1) bundles. On the other hand, through some examples, the recently proposed physical projector approach to the quantisation of general gauge invariant systems is shown to avoid the necessity of any gauge fixing - hence also avoiding the possibility of Gribov problems w…
We provide an introduction to deformation quantisation and discuss the application of the formalism in solving the evolution problem for many-body systems in terms of semiclassical expansion. In any fixed order of expansion over the Planck's constant, the evolution problem can be reduced to a statistical-mechanics problem of calculating an ensemble of quantum characteristics in the phase space and their Jacobi fields. In comparison with the corresponding rules of classical statistical mechanics, the rules for computing the probabilities and time-dependent averages of observables are modified. …
A recent concept in theoretical physics, motivated in string duality and M-theory, is the notion that not all quantum theories arise from quantising a classical system. Also, a given quantum model may possess more than just one classical limit. In view of these developments, we analyse some general properties that quantum mechanics must satisfy, if it is not to be formulated as a quantisation of a given classical mechanics. Instead, our approach to quantum mechanics is modelled on a statement that is close in spirit to the equivalence principle of general relativity, thus bearing a strong rese…
Quantum mechanics in configuration space in context
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds（利兹大学物理与天文学院）；Umm Al-Qura University（乌姆古拉大学）；School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science, University of Leeds（利兹大学哲学、宗教与科学史学院）
We show that if space is compact, then trajectories cannot be defined in the framework of quantum Hamilton--Jacobi equation. The starting point is the simple observation that when the energy is quantized it is not possible to make variations with respect to the energy, and the time parameterisation t-t_0=\partial_E S_0, implied by Jacobi's theorem and that leads to group velocity, is ill defined. It should be stressed that this follows directly form the quantum HJ equation without any axiomatic assumption concerning the standard formulation of quantum mechanics. This provides a stringent conne…
The quantum Fourier transform (QFT) plays an important role in many known quantum algorithms such as Shor's algorithm for prime factorisation. In this paper we show that the QFT algorithm can, on a restricted set of input states, be de-quantised into a classical algorithm which is both more efficient and simpler than the quantum algorithm. By working directly with the algorithm instead of the circuit, we develop a simple classical version of the quantum basis-state algorithm. We formulate conditions for a separable state to remain separable after the QFT is performed, and use these conditions …
The orbit method of Kirillov is used to derive the p-mechanical brackets [math-ph/0007030, quant-ph/0212101]. They generate the quantum (Moyal) and classic (Poisson) brackets on respective orbits corresponding to representations of the Heisenberg group. The extension of p-mechanics to field theory is made through the De Donder--Weyl Hamiltonian formulation. The principal step is the substitution of the Heisenberg group with Galilean. Keywords: Classic and quantum mechanics, Moyal brackets, Poisson brackets, commutator, Heisenberg group, orbit method, deformation quantisation, representation th…
We revise the construction of creation/annihilation operators in quantum mechanics based on the representation theory of the Heisenberg and symplectic groups. Besides the standard harmonic oscillator (the elliptic case) we similarly treat the repulsive oscillator (hyperbolic case) and the free particle (the parabolic case). The respective hypercomplex numbers turn to be handy on this occasion, this provides a further illustration to Similarity and Correspondence Principle. Keywords: Heisenberg group, Kirillov's method of orbits, geometric quantisation, quantum mechanics, classical mechanics, P…
A recent notion in theoretical physics is that not all quantum theories arise from quantising a classical system. Also, a given quantum model may possess more than just one classical limit. These facts find strong evidence in string duality and M-theory, and it has been suggested that they should also have a counterpart in quantum mechanics. In view of these developments we propose "dequantisation", a mechanism to render a quantum theory classical. Specifically, we present a geometric procedure to "dequantise" a given quantum mechanics (regardless of its classical origin, if any) to possibly d…
We study the quantisation of complex, finite-dimensional, compact, classical phase spaces C, by explicitly constructing Hilbert-space vector bundles over C. We find that these vector bundles split as the direct sum of two holomorphic vector bundles: the holomorphic tangent bundle T(C), plus a complex line bundle N(C). Quantum states (except the vacuum) appear as tangent vectors to C. The vacuum state appears as the fibrewise generator of N(C). Holomorphic line bundles N(C) are classified by the elements of Pic(C), the Picard group of C. In this way Pic(C) appears as the parameter space for non…
We examine shape invariant potentials (excluding those that are obtained by scaling) in supersymmetric quantum mechanics from the stand-point of periodic orbit theory. An exact trace formula for the quantum spectra of such potentials is derived. Based on this result, and Barclay's functional relationship for such potentials, we present a new derivation of the result that the lowest order SWKB quantisation rule is exact.
There is a formal analogy between the evolution of the universe, when this is seen as a trajectory in the minisuperspace, and the worldline followed by a test particle in a curved spacetime. The analogy can be extended to the quantum realm, where the trajectories are transformed into wave functions that give us the probabilities of finding the universe or the particle in a given point of their respective spaces: the spacetime in the case of the particle and the minisuperspace in the case of the universe. The wave function of the spacetime and the matter fields, all together, can then be seen a…
The orbit method of Kirillov is used to derive the p-mechanical brackets [quant-ph/0212101]. They generate the quantum (Moyal) and classic (Poisson) brackets on respective orbits corresponding to representations of the Heisenberg group. The extension of p-mechanics to field theory is made through the De Donder-Weyl Hamiltonian formulation. The principal step is the substitution of the Heisenberg group with Galilean. Keywords: Classic and quantum mechanics, Moyal brackets, Poisson brackets, commutator, Heisenberg group, orbit method, deformation quantisation, representation theory, De Donder-We…
An orthodox formulation of quantum mechanics relies on a set of postulates in Hilbert space supplemented with rules to connect it with classical mechanics such as quantisation techniques, correspondence principle, etc. Here we deduce a qubit and its dynamics straightforwardly from a discrete deterministic dynamics and conservation of the classical collision entropy. No Hilbert space is required although it can be inferred from this approach if necessary.
This Festschrift in honour of J. A. de Azcarraga gives an introduction to the concept of duality, i.e., to the relativity of the notion of a quantum, in the context of the quantum mechanics of a finite number of degrees of freedom. Although the concept of duality arises in string and M--theory, Vafa has argued that it should also have a counterpart in quantum mechanics, before moving on to second quantisation, fields, strings and branes. We illustrate our analysis with the case when classical phase space is complex projective space, but our conclusions can be generalised to other complex, symp…
The scale of quantum mechanical effects in matter is set by Planck's constant, $\hbar$. This represents the quantisation scale for material objects. In this article, we present a simple argument why the quantisation scale for space, and hence for gravity, may not be equal to $\hbar$. Indeed, assuming a single quantisation scale for both matter and geometry leads to the `worst prediction in physics', namely, the huge difference between the observed and predicted vacuum energies. Conversely, assuming a different quantum of action for geometry, $β\ll \hbar$, allows us to recover the observed dens…
If one replaces the constraints of the Ashtekar-Barbero $SU(2)$ gauge theory formulation of Euclidean gravity by their $U(1)^3$ version, one arrives at a consistent model which captures significant structure of its $SU(2)$ version. In particular, it displays a non trivial realisation of the hypersurface deformation algebra which makes it an interesting testing ground for (Euclidean) quantum gravity as has been emphasised in a recent series of papers due to Varadarajan et al. In this paper we consider a reduced phase space approach to this model. This is especially attractive because, after a c…
Familiar formulations of classical and quantum mechanics are shown to follow from a general theory of mechanics based on pure states with an intrinsic probability structure. This theory is developed to the stage where theorems from quantum logic enable expression of the state geometry in Hilbert space. Quantum and classical mechanics are then elaborated and applied to subsystems and the measurement process. Consideration is also given to space-time geometry and the constraints this places on the dynamics. Physics and Mathematics, it is argued, are growing apart; the inadequate treatment of app…
An analysis of classical mechanics in a complex extension of phase space shows that a particle in such a space can behave in a way redolant of quantum mechanics; additional degrees of freedom permit 'tunnelling' without recourse to instantons and lead to time/energy uncertainty. In practice, 'classical' particle trajectories with additional degrees of freedom have arisen in several different formulations of quantum mechanics. In this talk we compare the extended phase space of the closed time-path formalism with that of complex classical mechanics, to suggest that $\hbar$ has a role in our und…
The equivalence postulate approach to quantum mechanics aims to formulate quantum mechanics from a fundamental geometrical principle. Underlying the formulation there exists a basic cocycle condition which is invariant under $D$--dimensional Möbius transformations with respect to the Euclidean or Minkowski metrics. The invariance under global Möbius transformations implies that spatial space is compact. Furthermore, it implies energy quantisation and undefinability of quantum trajectories without assuming any prior interpretation of the wave function. The approach may be viewed as conventional…
We combine the coordinate method and Erlangen program in the framework of noncommutative geometry through an investigation of symmetries of noncommutative coordinate algebras. As the model we use the coherent states construction and the wavelet transform in functional spaces. New examples are a three dimensional spectrum of a non-normal matrix and a quantisation procedure from symplectomorphisms. Keywords: Heisenberg group, special linear group, symplectic group, Hardy space, Segal-Bargmann space, Clifford algebra, Cauchy-Riemann-Dirac operator, Möbius transformations, functional calculus, Wey…
We study a phenomenon occuring in various areas of quantum physics, in which an observable density (such as an energy density) which is classically pointwise nonnegative may assume arbitrarily negative expectation values after quantisation, even though the spatially integrated density remains nonnegative. Two prominent examples which have previously been studied are the energy density (in quantum field theory) and the probability flux of rightwards-moving particles (in quantum mechanics). However, in the quantum field context, it has been shown that the magnitude and space-time extension of ne…
The recently proposed physical projector approach to the quantisation of gauge invariant systems is applied to the U(1) Chern-Simons theory in 2+1 dimensions as one of the simplest examples of a topological quantum field theory. The physical projector is explicitely demonstrated to be capable of effecting the required projection from the initially infinite number of degrees of freedom to the finite set of gauge invariant physical states whose properties are determined by the topology of the underlying manifold.
We apply the principles discussed in an earlier paper to the construction of discrete time field theories. We derive the discrete time field equations of motion and Noether's theorem and apply them to the Schrodinger equation to illustrate the methodology. Stationary solutions to the discrete time Schrodinger wave equation are found to be identical to standard energy eigenvalue solutions except for a fundamental limit on the energy. Then we apply the formalism to the free neutral Klein Gordon system, deriving the equations of motion and conserved quantities such as the linear momentum and angu…
Shannon's theory of information was built on the assumption that the information carriers were classical systems. Its quantum counterpart, quantum Shannon theory, explores the new possibilities arising when the information carriers are quantum systems. Traditionally, quantum Shannon theory has focussed on scenarios where the internal state of the information carriers is quantum, while their trajectory is classical. Here we propose a second level of quantisation where both the information and its propagation in spacetime is treated quantum mechanically. The framework is illustrated with a numbe…
It is shown that, with some reasonable assumptions, the theory of general relativity can be made compatible with quantum mechanics by using the field equations of general relativity to construct a Robertson-Walker metric for a quantum particle so that the line element of the particle can be transformed entirely to that of the Minkowski spacetime, which is assumed by a quantum observer, and the spacetime dynamics of the particle described by a Minkowski observer takes the form of quantum mechanics. Spacetime structure of a quantum particle may have either positive or negative curvature. However…
The quantum-classical correspondence for dynamics of the nonlinear classically chaotic systems is analysed. The problem of quantum chaos consists of two parts: the quasiclassical quantisation of the chaotic systems and attempts to understand the classical chaos in terms of quantum mechanics. The first question has been partially solved by the Gutzwiller semiclassical trace formula for the eigenvalues of chaotic systems, while the classical chaos may be derived from quantum equations only introducing the decoherence process due to interaction with system's environment or intermediate frequent m…
Quantum game theory offers a lot of interesting questions, and it is relevant to use the quantum information theory to resolve or improve games with lack of information : how to use the power of quantum entanglement to show the superiority of a quantum player that is allowed to use quantum mechanics versus a classical player, how to use quantum communication properties in cooperative games ... But games are also useful to make notions easier to understand, and permit to apprehend easier new ways of reasoning. The objective of this work is to formalize and to study a simple game with qubits usi…
We show that the principles of a ''complete physical theory'' and the conclusions of the standard quantum mechanics do not irreconcilably contradict each other as is commonly believed. In the algebraic approach, we formulate axioms that allow constructing a renewed mathematical scheme of quantum mechanics. This scheme involves the standard mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics. Simultaneously, it contains a mathematical object that adequately describes a single experiment. We give an example of the application of the proposed scheme.
Through a very careful analysis of Dirac's 1932 paper on the Lagrangian in Quantum Mechanics as well as the second and third editions of his classic book {\it The Principles of Quantum Mechanics}, I show that Dirac's contributions to the birth of the path-integral approach to quantum mechanics is not restricted to just his seminal demonstration of how Lagrangians appear naturally in quantum mechanics, but that Dirac should be credited for creating a path-integral which I call {\it Dirac path-integral} which is far more general than Feynman's while possessing all its desirable features. On top …
We reconsider briefly the relation between "physical quantity" and "physical reality in the light of recent interpretations of Quantum Mechanics. We argue, that these interpretations are conditioned from the epistemological relation between these two fundamental concepts. In detail, the choice as ontic level of the concept affect, the relative interpretation. We note, for instance, that the informational view of quantum mechanics (primacy of the subjectivity) is due mainly to the evidence of the "random" physical quantities as ontic element. We will analyze four positions: Einstein, Rovelli, d…
It is congruous with the quantum nature of the world to view the space-time geometry as an emergent structure that shows classical features only at some observational level. One can thus conceive the space-time manifold as a purely theoretical arena, where quantum states are defined, with the additional freedom of changing coordinates like any other symmetry. Observables, including positions and distances, should then be described by suitable operators acting on such quantum states. In principle, the top-down (canonical) quantisation of Einstein-Hilbert gravity falls right into this picture, b…
The physical constructs underlying the properties of quantum mechanics are explored. Arguments are given that the particle wave function as well as photon and phonon quanta must derive from a more fundamental physical construct that has not yet been identified. An approach to identifying the construct is discussed and a specific construct is proposed and explained.
In the framework of the topos approach to quantum mechanics we give a representation of physical properties in terms of modal operators on Heyting algebras. It allows us to introduce a classical type study of the mentioned properties.
Five physical assumptions are proposed that together entail the general qualitative results, including the Born rule, of non-relativistic quantum mechanics by physical and information-theoretic reasoning alone. Two of these assumptions concern fundamental symmetries of physical interactions. The third concerns the Hilbert-space dimensions and the fourth and fifth the self-interaction Hamiltonians of the systems that function as "observers" within the theory. These assumptions are shown to provide a sufficient motivation for the usual Hilbert-space formalism, and to obviate the observation-rela…
The standard presentation of the principles of quantum mechanics is critically reviewed both from the experimental/operational point and with respect to the request of mathematical consistency and logical economy. A simpler and more physically motivated formulation is discussed. The existence of non commuting observables, which characterizes quantum mechanics with respect to classical mechanics, is related to operationally testable complementarity relations, rather than to uncertainty relations. The drawbacks of Dirac argument for canonical quantization are avoided by a more geometrical approa…
On the base of years of experience of working on the problem of the physical foundation of quantum mechanics the author offers principles of solving it. Under certain pressure of mathematical formalism there has raised a hypothesis of complexity of space and time by Minkovsky, being significant mainly for quantum objects. In this eight-dimensional space and time with six space and two time dimensions all the problems and peculiarities of quantum mechanical formalism disappear, the reasons of their appearance become clear, and there comes a clear and physically transparent picture of the founda…
The article is dedicated to discussion of irreversibility and foundation of statistical mechanics "from the first principles". Taking into account infinitesimal and, as it seems, neglectful for classical mechanics fluctuations of the physical vacuum, makes a deterministic motion of unstable dynamic systems is broken ("spontaneous determinism breaking", "spontaneous stochastization"). Vacuum fluctuations play part of the trigger, starting the powerful mechanism of exponent instability. The motion of the dynamic systems becomes irreversible and stochastic. Classical mechanics turns out to be app…
