João Nuno Prata

Admissible states in quantum phase space

Abstract We address the question of which phase space functionals might represent a quantum state. We derive necessary and sufficient conditions for both pure and mixed phase space quantum states. From the pure state quantum condition we obtain a formula for the momentum correlations of arbitrary order and derive explicit expressions for the wave functions in terms of time-dependent and independent Wigner functions. We show that the pure state quantum condition is preserved by the Moyal (but not by the classical Liouville) time evolution and is consistent with a generic stargenvalue equation. As a by-product Bakers converse construction is generalized both to an arbitrary stargenvalue equation, associated to a generic phase space symbol, as well as to the time-dependent case. These results are properly extended to the mixed state quantum condition, which is proved to imply the Heisenberg uncertainty relations. Globally, this formalism yields the complete characterization of the kinematical structure of Wigner quantum mechanics. The previous results are then succinctly generalized for various quasi-distributions. Finally, the formalism is illustrated through the simple examples of the harmonic oscillator and the free Gaussian wave packet. As a by-product, we obtain in the former example an integral representation of the Hermite polynomials.

Weyl-Wigner Formulation of Noncommutative Quantum Mechanics

We address the phase space formulation of a noncommutative extension of quantum mechanics in arbitrary dimension, displaying both spatial and momentum noncommutativity. By resorting to a covariant generalization of the Weyl-Wigner transform and to the Seiberg-Witten map we construct an isomorphism between the operator and the phase space representations of the extended Heisenberg algebra. This map provides a systematic approach to derive the entire structure of noncommutative quantum mechanics in phase space. We construct the extended starproduct, Moyal bracket and propose a general definition of noncommutative states. We study the dynamical and eigenvalue equations of the theory and prove that the entire formalism is independent of the particular choice of Seiberg-Witten map. Our approach unifies and generalizes all the previous proposals for the phase space formulation of noncommutative quantum mechanics. For concreteness we rederive these proposals by restricting our formalism to some 2-dimensional spaces.

Black Holes and Phase Space Noncommutativity

We use the solutions of the noncommutative Wheeler-De Witt equation arising from a Kantowski-Sachs cosmological model to compute thermodynamic properties of the Schwarzschild black hole. We show that the noncommutativity in the momentum sector introduces a quadratic term in the potential function of the black hole minisuperspace model. This potential has a local minimum and thus the partition function can be computed by resorting to a saddle point evaluation in the neighbourhood of the minimum. The thermodynamics of the black hole is derived and the corrections to the usual Hawking temperature and entropy exhibit a dependence on the momentum noncommutative parameter, �. Moreover, we study the t = r = 0 singularity in the noncommutative regime and show that in this case the wave function of the system vanishes in the neighbourhood of t = r = 0.

Singularity problem and phase-space noncanonical noncommutativity

The Wheeler-DeWitt equation arising from a Kantowski-Sachs model is considered for a Schwarzschild black hole under the assumption that the scale factors and the associated momenta satisfy a noncanonical noncommutative extension of the Heisenberg-Weyl algebra. An integral of motion is used to factorize the wave function into an oscillatory part and a function of a configuration space variable. The latter is shown to be normalizable using asymptotic arguments. It is then shown that on the hypersurfaces of constant value of the argument of the wave functions oscillatory piece, the probability vanishes in the vicinity of the black hole singularity.

Noncanonical phase-space noncommutativity and the Kantowski-Sachs singularity for black holes

We consider a cosmological model based upon a non-canonical noncommutative extension of the Heisenberg-Weyl algebra to address the thermodynamical stability and the singularity problem of both the Schwarzschild and the Kantowski-Sachs black holes. The interior of the black hole is modelled by a noncommutative extension of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation. We compute the temperature and entropy of a Kantowski-Sachs black hole and compare our results with the Hawking values. Again, the noncommutativity in the momenta sector allows us to have a minimum in the potential, which is relevant in order to apply the Feynman-Hibbs procedure. For Kantowski-Sachs black holes, the same model is shown to generate a non-unitary dynamics, predicting vanishing total probability in the neighborhood of the singularity. This result effectively regularizes the Kantowski-Sachs singularity and generalizes a similar result, previously obtained for the case of Schwarzschild black hole.

Formal solutions of stargenvalue equations

Abstract The formal solution of a general stargenvalue equation is presented, its properties studied and a geometrical interpretation given in terms of star-hypersurfaces in quantum phase space. Our approach deals with discrete and continuous spectra in a unified fashion and includes a systematic treatment of nondiagonal stargenfunctions. The formalism is used to obtain a complete formal solution of Wigner quantum mechanics in the Heisenberg picture and to write a general formula for the stargenfunctions of Hamiltonians quadratic in the phase space variables in arbitrary dimension. A variety of systems is then used to illustrate the former results.

A deformation quantization theory for noncommutative quantum mechanics

We show that the deformation quantization of noncommutative quantum mechanics previously considered by Dias and Prata [“Weyl–Wigner formulation of noncommutative quantum mechanics,” J. Math. Phys. 49, 072101 (2008)] and Bastos, Dias, and Prata [“Wigner measures in non-commutative quantum mechanics,” e-print arXiv:math-ph/0907.4438v1; Commun. Math. Phys. (to appear)] can be expressed as a Weyl calculus on a double phase space. We study the properties of the star-product thus defined and prove a spectral theorem for the star-genvalue equation using an extension of the methods recently initiated by de Gosson and Luef [“A new approach to the ⋆-genvalue equation,” Lett. Math. Phys. 85, 173–183 (2008)].

Wigner Measures in Noncommutative Quantum Mechanics

We study the properties of quasi-distributions or Wigner measures in the context of noncommutative quantum mechanics. In particular, we obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for a phase-space function to be a noncommutative Wigner measure, for a Gaussian to be a noncommutative Wigner measure, and derive certain properties of the marginal distributions which are not shared by ordinary Wigner measures. Moreover, we derive the Robertson-Schrödinger uncertainty principle. Finally, we show explicitly how the set of noncommutative Wigner measures relates to the sets of Liouville and (commutative) Wigner measures.

Bohmian trajectories and quantum phase space distributions

Abstract We prove that most quasi-distributions can be written in a form similar to that of the de Broglie–Bohm distribution, except that ordinary products are replaced by some suitable non-commutative star product. In doing so, we show that the Hamilton–Jacobi trajectories and the concept of “classical pure state” are common features to all phase space formulations of quantum mechanics. Furthermore, these results provide an explicit quantization prescription for classical distributions.

Phase-space noncommutative formulation of Ozawa’s uncertainty principle

Ozawas measurement-disturbance relation is generalized to a phase-space noncommutative extension of quantum mechanics. It is shown that the measurement-disturbance relations have additional terms for backaction evading quadrature amplifiers and for noiseless quadrature transducers. Several distinctive features appear as a consequence of the noncommutative extension: measurement interactions which are noiseless, and observables which are undisturbed by a measurement, or of independent intervention in ordinary quantum mechanics, may acquire noise, become disturbed by the measurement, or no longer be an independent intervention in noncommutative quantum mechanics. It is also found that there can be states which violate Ozawas universal noise-disturbance trade-off relation, but verify its noncommutative deformation.