E. Ercolessi

Wigner-weyl correspondence in quantum mechanics for continuous and discrete systems-a dirac-inspired view

Drawing inspiration from Diracs work on functions of non-commuting observables, we develop an approach to phase-space descriptions of operators and the Wigner-Weyl correspondence in quantum mechanics, complementary to standard formulations. This involves a two-step process: introducing phase-space descriptions based on placing position dependences to the left of momentum dependences (or the other way around); then carrying out a natural transformation to eliminate a kernel which appears in the expression for the trace of the product of two operators. The method works uniformly for both continuous Cartesian degrees of freedom and for systems with finite-dimensional state spaces. It is interesting that the kernel encountered is naturally expressible in terms of geometric phases, and its removal involves extracting its square root in a suitable manner.

FROM THE EQUATIONS OF MOTION TO THE CANONICAL COMMUTATION RELATIONS

The problem of whether or not the equations of motion of a quantum system determine the commutation relations was posed by E.P.Wigner in 1950. A similar problem (known as ”The Inverse Problem in the Calculus of Variations”) was posed in a classical setting as back as in 1887 by H.Helmoltz and has received great attention also in recent times. The aim of this paper is to discuss how these two apparently unrelated problems can actually be discussed in a somewhat unified framework. After reviewing briefly the Inverse Problem and the existence of alternative structures for classical systems, we discuss the geometric structures that are intrinsically present in Quantum Mechanics, starting from finite-level systems and then moving to a more general setting by using the Weyl-Wigner approach, showing how this approach can accomodate in an almost natural way the existence of alternative structures in Quantum Mechanics as well.

Exact entanglement entropy of the XYZ model and its sine-Gordon limit

Abstract We obtain the exact expression for the Von Neumann entropy for an infinite bipartition of the XYZ model, by connecting its reduced density matrix to the corner transfer matrix of the eight vertex model. Then we consider the anisotropic scaling limit of the XYZ chain that yields the ( 1 + 1 ) -dimensional sine-Gordon model. We present the formula for the entanglement entropy of the latter, which has the structure of a dominant logarithmic term plus a constant, in agreement with what is generally expected for a massive quantum field theory.

Geometric phase for mixed states: a differential geometric approach

Abstract.A new definition and interpretation of the geometric phase for mixed state cyclic unitary evolution in quantum mechanics are presented. The pure state case is formulated in a framework involving three selected principal fiber bundles, and the well-known Kostant-Kirillov-Souriau symplectic structure on (co-) adjoint orbits associated with Lie groups. It is shown that this framework generalizes in a natural and simple manner to the mixed state case. For simplicity, only the case of rank two mixed state density matrices is considered in detail. The extensions of the ideas of null phase curves and Pancharatnam lifts from pure to mixed states are also presented.

EDGE STATES IN GAUGE THEORIES: THEORY, INTERPRETATIONS AND PREDICTIONS

Gauge theories on manifolds with spatial boundaries are studied. It is shown that observables localized at the boundaries (edge observables) can occur in such models irrespective of the dimensionality of space-time. The intimate connection of these observables to charge fractionation, vertex operators and topological field theories is described. The edge observables, however, may or may not exist as well-defined operators in a fully quantized theory depending on the boundary conditions imposed on the fields and their momenta. The latter are obtained by requiring the Hamiltonian of the theory to be self-adjoint and positive-definite. We show that these boundary conditions can also have nice physical interpretations in terms of certain experimental parameters, such as the penetration depth of the electromagnetic field in a surrounding superconducting medium. The dependence of the spectrum on one such parameter is explicitly exhibited for the Higgs model on a spatial disk in its London limit. It should be possible to test such dependences experimentally, the above Higgs model for example being a model for a superconductor. Boundary conditions for the (3+1)-dimensional BF system confined to a spatial ball are studied. Their physical meaning is clarified and their influence on the edge states of this system (known to exist under certain conditions) is discussed. It is pointed out that edge states occur for topological solitons of gauge theories such as the ’t Hooft-Polyakov monopoles.

Essential singularity in the Renyi entanglement entropy of the one-dimensional XY Z spin- 1 chain

We study the Renyi entropy of the one-dimensional XYZ spin-1/2 chain in the entirety of its phase diagram. The model has several quantum critical lines corresponding to rotated XXZ chains in their paramagnetic phase, and four tri-critical points where these phases join. Two of these points are described by a conformal field theory and close to them the entropy scales as the logarithm of its mass gap. The other two points are not conformal and the entropy has a peculiar singular behavior in their neighbors, characteristic of an essential singularity. At these non-conformal points the model undergoes a discontinuous transition, with a level crossing in the ground state and a quadratic excitation spectrum. We propose the entropy as an efficient tool to determine the discontinuous or continuous nature of a phase transition also in more complicated models.

Wigner distributions for finite dimensional quantum systems: An algebraic approach

We discuss questions pertaining to the definition of ‘momentum’, ‘momentum space’, ‘phase space’ and ‘Wigner distributions’; for finite dimensional quantum systems. For such systems, where traditional concepts of ‘momenta’ established for continuum situations offer little help, we propose a physically reasonable and mathematically tangible definition and use it for the purpose of setting up Wigner distributions in a purely algebraic manner. It is found that the point of view adopted here is limited to odd dimensional systems only. The mathematical reasons which force this situation are examined in detail

On \(\mathsf{c = 1}\) critical phases in anisotropic spin-1 chains

Abstract.Quantum spin-1 chains may develop massless phases in presence of Ising-like and single-ion anisotropies. We have studied c = 1 critical phases by means of both analytical techniques, including a mapping of the lattice Hamiltonian onto an O(2) NL

Effective actions for spin ladders

\sigma

Path integrals for spinning particles, stationary phase and the Duistermaat-Heckmann theorem

M, and a multi-target DMRG algorithm which allows for accurate calculation of excited states. We find excellent quantitative agreement with the theoretical predictions and conclude that a pure Gaussian model, without any orbifold construction, describes correctly the low-energy physics of these critical phases. This combined analysis indicates that the multicritical point at large single-ion anisotropy does not belong to the same universality class as the Takhtajan-Babujian Hamiltonian as claimed in the past. A link between string-order correlation functions and twisting vertex operators, along the c = 1 line that ends at this point, is also suggested.