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H. -D. Doebner

Publications and source records attributed to H. -D. Doebner.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

Borel quantization and nonlinear quantum mechanics. A review of developments in the series "Symmetries in Science" I - XIII

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.

quant-ph

Nonlinear Dirac equations and nonlinear gauge transformations

Nonlinear Dirac equations (NLDE) are derived through a group N^2 of nonlinear (gauge) transformation acting in the corresponding state space. The construction generalises a construction for nonlinear Schrödinger equations. To relate N^2 with physically motivated principles we assume: locality (i.e. it contains no explicit derivative and no derivatives of the wave function), separability (i.e. it acts on product states componentwise) and Poincaré invariance. Furthermore we want that a positional density is invariant under N^2. Such nonlinear transformations yield NLDE which describe physically equivalent systems. To get 'new' systems, we extend this NLDE (gauge extension) and present a family of NLDE which is a slight nonlinear generalisation of the Dirac equation. We discuss and comment the fact that nonlinear evolutions are not consistent with the usual framework of quantum theory. To develop a corresponding extended framework one needs models for nonlinear evolutions which also indicate possible physical consequences of nonlinearities.

quant-ph

Deformed Clifford Cl_q(n|m) and orthosymplectic U_q[osp(2n+1|2m)] superalgebras and their root of unity representations

It is shown that the Clifford superalgebra Cl(n|m) generated by m pairs of Bose operators (odd elements) anticommuting with n pairs of Fermi operators (even elements) can be deformed to Cl_q(n|m) such that the latter is a homomorphic image of the quantum superalgebra U_q[osp(2n+1|2m)]. The Fock space F(n|m) of Cl_q(n|m) is constructed. At q being a root of unity (q=\exp ({iπl/k})) q-bosons (and q-fermions) are operators acting in a finite-dimensional subspace F_{l/k}(n|m) of F(n|m). Each F_{l/k}(n|m) is turned through the above mentioned homomorphism into an irreducible (root of unity) U_q[osp(2n+1|2m)] module. For q being a primitive root of unity (l=1) the corresponding representation is unitary. The module F_{1/k}(n|m) is decomposed into a direct sum of irreducible U_q[sl(m|n)] submodules. The matrix elements of all Cartan-Weyl elements of U_q[sl(m|n)] are given within each such submodule.

math.QA

Quantum Mechanics with Difference Operators

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 and its N-point discretisation; the connection to q-deformations of the Witt algebra is discussed. For a "natural" choice of the q-kinematics a corresponding q-difference evolution equation is obtained. This study shows general difficulties for a generalisation of a physical theory from a known one to a "new" framework.

quant-ph

Quantization of kinematics on configuration manifolds

The review is devoted to topological global aspects of quantal description. The treatment concentrates on quantizations of kinematical observables --- generalized positions and momenta. A broad class of quantum kinematics is rigorously constructed for systems, the configuration space of which is either a homogeneous space of a Lie group or a connected smooth finite-dimensional manifold without boundary. The class also includes systems in an external gauge field for an Abelian or a compact gauge group. Conditions for equivalence and irreducibility of generalized quantum kinematics are investigated with the aim of classification of possible quantizations. Complete classification theorems are given in two special cases. It is attempted to motivate the global approach based on a generalization of imprimitivity systems called {\em quantum Borel kinematics}. These are classified by means of global invariants --- quantum numbers of topological origin. Selected examples are presented which demonstrate the richness of applications of Borel quantization. The review aims to provide an introductory survey of the subject and to be sufficiently selfcontained as well, so that it can serve as a standard reference concerning Borel quantization for systems admitting localization on differentiable manifolds.

math-ph

Schroedinger-picture correlation functions for nonlinear evolutions

The well known interpretational difficulties with nonlinear Schrödinger and von Neumann equations can be reduced to the problem of computing multiple-time correlation functions in the absence of Heisenberg picture. Having no Heisenberg picture one often resorts to Zeno-type reasoning which explicitly involves the projection postulate as a means of computing conditional and joint probabilities. Although the method works well in linear quantum mechanics, it completely fails for nonlinear evolutions. We propose an alternative way of performing the same task in linear quantum mechanics and show that the method smoothly extends to the nonlinear domain. The trick is to use appropriate time-dependent Hamiltonians which involve "switching-off functions". We apply the technique to the EPR problem in nonlinear quantum mechanics and show that paradoxes of Gisin and Polchinski disappear.

quant-ph

Bounds on Integrals of the Wigner Function

The integral of the Wigner function over a subregion of the phase-space of a quantum system may be less than zero or greater than one. It is shown that for systems with one degree of freedom, the problem of determining the best possible upper and lower bounds on such an integral, over all possible states, reduces to the problem of finding the greatest and least eigenvalues of an hermitian operator corresponding to the subregion. The problem is solved exactly in the case of an arbitrary elliptical region. These bounds provide checks on experimentally measured quasiprobability distributions.

quant-ph

Lévy Processes on $U_q(g)$ as Infinitely Divisible Representations

Lévy processes on bialgebras are families of infinitely divisible representations. We classify the generators of Lévy processes on the compact forms of the quantum algebras $U_q(g)$, where $g$ is a simple Lie algebra. Then we show how the processes themselves can be reconstructed from their generators and study several classical stochastic processes that can be associated to these processes.

math.PR

The stationary KdV hierarchy and so(2,1) as a spectrum generating algebra

The family F of all potentials V(x) for which the Hamiltonian H in one space dimension possesses a high order Lie symmetry is determined. A sub-family F', which contains a class of potentials allowing a realization of so(2,1) as spectrum generating algebra of H through differential operators of finite order, is identified. Furthermore and surprisingly, the families F and F' are shown to be related to the stationary KdV hierarchy. Hence, the "harmless" Hamiltonian H connects different mathematical objects, high order Lie symmetry, realization of so(2,1)-spectrum generating algebra and families of nonlinear differential equations. We describe in a physical context the interplay between these objects.

math-ph

Gauge Transformations in Quantum Mechanics and the Unification of Nonlinear Schrödinger Equations

Beginning with ordinary quantum mechanics for spinless particles, together with the hypothesis that all experimental measurements consist of positional measurements at different times, we characterize directly a class of nonlinear quantum theories physically equivalent to linear quantum mechanics through nonlinear gauge transformations. We show that under two physically-motivated assumptions, these transformations are uniquely determined: they are exactly the group of time-dependent, nonlinear gauge transformations introduced previously for a family of nonlinear Schrödinger equations. The general equation in this family, including terms considered by Kostin, by Bialynicki-Birula and Mycielski, and by Doebner and Goldin, with time-dependent coefficients, can be obtained from the linear Schrödinger equation through gauge transformation and a subsequent process we call gauge generalization. We thus unify, on fundamental grounds, a rather diverse set of nonlinear time-evolutions in quantum mechanics.

quant-ph

Borel Quantization: Kinematics and Dynamics

In this contribution we review results on the kinematics of a quantum system localized on a connected configuration manifold and compatible dynamics for the quantum system including external fields and leading to non-linear Schrödinger equations for pure states.

quant-ph