Summary
Quantization is not a straightforward proposition, as demonstrated by Groenewold’s and Van Hove’s discovery, more than fifty years ago, of an “obstruction” to quantization. Their “no-go theorems” assert that it is in principle impossible to consistently quantize every classical polynomial observable on the phase space R 2n in a physically meaningful way. Similar obstructions have been recently found for S 2 and T*S 1, buttressing the common belief that no-go theorems should hold in some generality. Surprisingly, this is not so—it has just been proven that there are no obstructions to quantizing either T 2 or T*R +.
In this paper we work towards delineating the circumstances under which such obstructions will appear, and understanding the mechanisms which produce them. Our objectives are to conjecture—and in some cases prove—generalized Groenewold-Van Hove theorems, and to determine the maximal Lie subalgebras of observables which can be consistently quantized. This requires a study of the structure of Poisson algebras of symplectic manifolds and their representations. To these ends we include an exposition of both prequantization (in an extended sense) and quantization theory, here formulated in terms of “basic algebras of observables” We then review in detail the known results for R 2n, S 2, T*S 1, T 2, and T*R +, as well as recent theoretical work. Our discussion is independent of any particular method of quantization; we concentrate on the structural aspects of quantization theory which are common to all Hilbert space-based quantization techniques.
This paper is dedicated to the memory of Juan-Carlos Simo
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Abraham, R. & Marsden, J.E. [1978] Foundations of Mechanics. Second Ed. (Benjamin-Cummings, Reading, MA).
Aldaya, V. & Azcárraga, J.A. [1982] Quantization as a consequence of the symmetry group: An approach to geometric quantization. J. Math. Phys. 23, 1297–1305.
Angermann, B., Doebner, H.-D. & Tolar, J. [1983] Quantum kinematics on smooth manifolds. In: Nonlinear Partial Differential Operators and Quantization Procedures. Andersson, S.I. & Doebner, H.-D., Eds. Lecture Notes in Math. 1087, 171–208.
Arens, R. & Babbit, D. [1965] Algebraic difficulties of preserving dynamical relations when forming quantum-mechanical operators J. Math. Phys. 6, 1071–1075.
Ashtekar, A. [1980] On the relation between classical and quantum variables. Commun. Math. Phys. 71, 59–64.
Atkin, C.J. [1984] A note on the algebra of Poisson brackets. Math. Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 96, 45–60.
Avez, A. [1974] Représentation de l’algèbre de Lie des symplectomorphismes par des opérateurs bornés. C.R. Acad. Sc. Paris Sér: A. 279, 785–787.
Avez, A. [1974–1975] Remarques sur les automorphismes infinitésimaux des variétés symplectiques compactes. Rend. Sem. Mat. Univers. Politecn. Torino, 33, 5–12.
Avez, A. [1980] Symplectic group, quantum mechanics and Anosov’s systems. In: Dynamical Systems and Microphysics. Blaquiere, A. et al., Eds. (Springer, New York) 301–324.
Barut, A.O. & Raczka, R. [1986] Theory of Group Representations and Applications. Second Ed. (World Scientific, Singapore).
Bayen, F., Flato, M., Fronsdal, C., Lichnerowicz, A., & Stemheimer, D. [1978] De-formation theory and quantization I, II. Ann. Phys. 110, 61–110, 111–151.
Blattner, R.J. [1983] On geometric quantization. In: Non-Linear Partial Differential Operators and Quantization Procedures. Andersson, S.I. & Doebner, H.-D., Eds. Lecture Notes in Math. 1087, 209–241.
Blattner, R.J. [1991] Some remarks on quantization. In: Symplectic Geometry and Mathematical Physics. Donato. P. et al., Eds. Progress in Math. 99 (Birkhäuser, Boston) 37–47.
Bratteli, O. & Robinson, D.W. [1979] Operator Algebras and Quantum Statistical Mechanics I. (Springer, New York).
Chernoff, P.R. [1981] Mathematical obstructions to quantization. Hodronic J.. 4, 879898.
Chernoff, P.R. [1988] Seminar on representations of diffeomorphism groups. Unpublished notes.
Chernoff, P.R. [1995] Irreducible representations of infinite dimensional transformation groups and Lie algebras I. J. Funct. Anal. 130, 255–282.
Cohen, L. [1966] Generalized phase-space distribution functions. J. Math. Phvs. 7, 781 - 786.
Dirac, P.A.M. [1967] The Principles of Quantum Mechanics. Revised Fourth Ed. (Oxford Univ. Press. Oxford).
Doebner, H.D. and Melsheimer, O. [1968] Limitable dynamical groups in quantum mechanics I. J. Math. Phys. 9, 1638 - 1656.
Emch, G.G. [1972] Algebraic Methods in Statistical Mechanics and Quantum Field Theory. (Wiley, New York).
Filippini, R.J. [1995] The symplectic geometry of the theorems of Borel-Weil and Peter-Weyl. Thesis, University of California at Berkeley.
Flato, M. [1976] Theory of analytic vectors and applications. In: Mathematical Physics and Physical Mathematics. Maurin, K. & Riczka, R.. Eds. (Reidel, Dordrecht) 231–250.
Folland, G.B. [1989] Harmonic Analysis in Phase Space. Ann. Math. Ser. 122(Princeton University Press, Princeton).
Fronsdal, C. [1978] Some ideas about quantization. Rep. Math. Phvs. 15, 111 - 145.
Ginzburg, V.L. & Montgomery, R. [1997] Geometric quantization and no-go theorems. Preprint dg-ga/9703010.
Glimm, J. & Jaffe, A. [1981] Quantum Physics. A Functional Integral Point of View. (Springer Verlag, New York).
Gotay, M.J. [1980] Functorial geometric quantization and Van Hove’s theorem. Int. J. Theor: Phys. 19, 139 - 161.
Gotay, M.J. [1987] A class of non-polarizable symplectic manifolds. Mh. Math. 103, 27 - 30.
Gotay, M.J. [1995] On a full quantization of the torus. In: Quantization, Coherent States and Complex Structures, Antoine, J.-P. et al., Eds. (Plenum, New York) 55–62.
Gotay, M.J. [1999] On the Groenewold-Van Hove problem for R 2n. J. Math. Phvs. 40, 2107 - 2116.
Gotay, M.J. & Grabowski, J. [1999] On quantizing nilpotent and solvable basic algebras. Preprint math-ph/9902012.
Gotay, M.J. & Grabowski, J. [2000] On quantizing semisimple basic algebras. In preparation.
Gotay, M.J., Grabowski, J., & Grundling, H.B. [2000] An obstruction to quantizing compact symplectic manifolds. Proc. Amer: Math. Soc. 128, 237 - 243.
Gotay, M.J. & Grundling, H.B. [1997] On quantizing T*S 1.Rep. Math. Phys. 40, 107–123.
Gotay, M.J. & Grundling, H. [1999] Nonexistence of finite-dimensional quantizations of a noncompact symplectic manifold. In: Differential Geonnetry and Applications, Koldr. I. et al., Eds. (Masaryk Univ., Brno) 593–596.
Gotay, M.J., Grundling, H., &Hurst, C.A. [1996] A Groenewold-Van Hove theorem for S 2. Trans. Amer: Math. Soc. 348 1579–1597.
Gotay, M.J., Grundling, H., & Tuynman, G.T. [1996] Obstruction results in quantization theory. J. Nonlinear Sci. 6, 469 - 498.
Grabowski, J. [1978] Isomorphisms and ideals of the Lie algebras of vector fields. Invent. Math. 50, 13 - 33.
Grabowski, J. [1985] The Lie structure of C*and Poisson algebras. Studia Math. 81, 259–270.
Groenewold, H.J. [1946] On the principles of elementary quantum mechanics. Physica 12, 405 - 460.
Guillemin, V. & Sternberg, S. [1984] Symplectic Techniques in Physics. (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge).
Helton, J.W. & Miller, R.L. [1994] NC Algebra: A Mathematica Package for Doing Non Commuting Algebra. v0.2 ncalg@ucsd.edu.(USCD, La Jolla).
Hennings, M.A. [1986] Fronsdal 5-quantization and Fell inducing. Math. Proc. Carnb. Phil. Soc. 99, 179 - 188.
Isham, C.J. [1984] Topological and global aspects of quantum theory. In: Relativity, Groups and Topology II. DeWitt, B.S. & Stora, R., Eds. (North-Holland, Amsterdam) 1059–1290.
Joseph, A. [1970] Derivations of Lie brackets and canonical quantization. Commun. Math. Phys. 17, 210 - 232.
Kerner, E.H. & Sutcliffe, W.G. [1970] Unique Hamiltonian operators via Feynman path integrals. J. Math. Phys. 11, 391–393.
Kirillov, A.A. [1990] Geometric quantization. In: Dynamical Systems IV: Symplectic Geometry and Its Applications. Arnol’d, V.I. and Novikov, S.P., Eds. Encyclopaedia Math. Sci. IV. (Springer, New York) 137–172.
Kuryshkin, V.V. [1972] La mécanique quantique avec une fonction non-négative de distribution dans l’espace des phases. Ann. Inst. H. Poincaré 17, 81 - 95.
Kuryshkin, V.V., Lyabis, I.A., & Zaparovanny, Y.I. [1978] Sur le problème de la regle de correspondence en théorie quantique. Ann. Fond. L. de Broglie. 3, 45 - 61.
Mackey, G.W. [1976] The Theory of Unitary Group Representations(University of Chicago Press, Chicago).
Margenau, H. & Cohen, L. [1967] Probabilities in quantum mechanics. In: Quantum Theory and Reality. Bunge, M., Ed. (Springer-Verlag, New York), 71–89.
Marsden, J.E. & Ratiu, T.S. [1994] Introduction to Mechanics and Symmetry.(Springer-Verlag, New York).
Mnatsakanova, M., Morchio, G., Strocchi, F., & Vernov, Yu. [1998] Irreducible representations of the Heisenberg algebra in Krein spaces. J. Math. Phys. 39, 2969–2982.
Onishchik, A.L. [1994] Topology of Transitive Transformation Groups. (Johann Ambrosius Barth, Leipzig).
Reed, M. & Simon, B. [1972] Functional Analysis I. (Academic Press, New York).
Rieffel, M.A. [1989] Deformation quantization of Heisenberg manifolds. Commun. Math. Phys. 122, 531–562.
Rieffel, M.A. [1990] Deformation quantization and operator algebras. Proc. Sym. Pure Math. 45, 411–423.
Rieffel, M.A. [1993] Quantization and C* -algebras. In: C* -Algebras: 1943–1993, A Fifty Year Celebration. Doran, R.S., Ed. Contemp. Math. 167, 67–97.
Rieffel, M.A. [1998] Questions on quantization. In: Operator Algebras and Operator Theory. Contemp. Math. 228, 315–326.
Robert, A. [1983] Introduction to the Representation Theory of Compact and Locally Compact Groups. London Math. Soc. Lect. Note Ser. 80 (Cambridge U. P., Cambridge).
Souriau, J.-M. [1997] Structure of Dynamical Systems.(Birkhäuser, Boston).
Tuynman, G.M. [1998] Prequantization is irreducible. Indag. Mathem. 9, 607–618.
Urwin, R.W. [1983] The prequantization representations of the Poisson Lie algebra. Adv. Math. 50, 126–154.
van Hove, L. [1951] Sur certaines représentations unitaires d’un groupe infini de transformations. Proc. Roy. Acad. Sci. Belgium26, 1–102.
van Hove, L. [1951] Sur le problème des relations entre les transformations unitaires de la mécanique quantique et les transformations canoniques de la mécanique classique. Acad. Roy. Belgique Bull. Cl. Sci. (5) 37, 610 - 620.
Varadarajan, V.S. [1984] Lie Groups, Lie Algebras and Their Representations. (Springer-Verlag, New York).
Velhinho, J. [1998] Some remarks on a full quantization of the torus. Int. J. Mod. Phys.A13, 3905–3914.
von Neumann, J. [1955] Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics. (Princeton. Univ. Press, Princeton).
Weinstein, A. [1989] Cohomology of symplectomorphism groups and critical values of hamiltonians. Math. Z. 201, 75–82.
Wildberger, N. [1983] Quantization and harmonic analysis on Lie groups. Dissertation, Yale University.216 M. J. Gotay.
Woodhouse, N.M.J. [1992] Geometric quantization. Second Ed. (Clarendon Press, Oxford).
Ziegler, F. [1996] Quantum representations and the orbit method. Thesis, Université de Provence.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this paper
Cite this paper
Gotay, M.J. (2000). Obstructions to Quantization. In: Mechanics: From Theory to Computation. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1246-1_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1246-1_7
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7059-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-1246-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive