Linear canonical transformations and quantum phase:a unified canonical and algebraic approach

Canonical transformations using the idea of quantum generating functions are applied to construct a quantum Hamilton-Jacobi theory, based on the analogy with the classical case. An operator and a c-number forms of the time-dependent quantum Hamilton-Jacobi equation are derived and used to find dynamical solutions of quantum problems. The phase-space picture of quantum mechanics is discussed in connection with the present theory.

A Lie algebraic approach to the unitary transformations in Weyl quantization is discussed. This approach, being formally equivalent to the $\star$-quantization, is an extension of the classical Poisson-Lie formalism which can be used as an efficient tool in the quantum phase space transformation theory.

The relation that exists in quantum mechanics among action variables, angle variables and the phases of quantum states is clarified, by referring to the system of a generalized oscillator. As a by-product, quantum-mechanical meaning of the classical Hamilton-Jacobi equation and related matters is clarified, where a new picture of quantum mechanics is introduced, to be called the Hamilton-Jacobi picture.

Quantum canonical transformations are defined in analogy to classical canonical transformations as changes of the phase space variables which preserve the Dirac bracket structure. In themselves, they are neither unitary nor non-unitary. A definition of quantum integrability in terms of canonical transformations is proposed which includes systems which have fewer commuting integrals of motion than degrees of freedom. The important role of non-unitary transformations in integra...

Three elementary canonical transformations are shown both to have quantum implementations as finite transformations and to generate, classically and infinitesimally, the full canonical algebra. A general canonical transformation can, in principle, be realized quantum mechanically as a product of these transformations. It is found that the intertwining of two super-Hamiltonians is equivalent to there being a canonical transformation between them. A consequence is that the proc...

The aim of this paper is to give a simple, geometric proof of Wigner's theorem on the realization of symmetries in quantum mechanics that clarifies its relation to projective geometry. Although several proofs exist already, it seems that the relevance of Wigner's theorem is not fully appreciated in general. It is Wigner's theorem which allows the use of linear realizations of symmetries and therefore guarantees that, in the end, quantum theory stays a linear theory. In the pr...

The quantum mechanical version of the four kinds of classical canonical transformations is investigated by using non-hermitian operator techniques. To help understand the usefulness of this appoach the eigenvalue problem of a harmonic oscillator is solved in two different types of canonical transformations. The quantum form of the classical Hamiton-Jacobi theory is also employed to solve time dependent Schr\"odinger wave equations, showing that when one uses the classical act...

After reviewing the role of phase in quantum mechanics, I discuss, with the aid of a number of unpublished documents, the development of quantum phase operators in the 1960's. Interwoven in the discussion are the critical physics questions of the field: Are there (unique) quantum phase operators and are there quantum systems which can determine their nature? I conclude with a critique of recent proposals which have shed new light on the problem.

For classical canonical transformations, one can, using the Wigner transformation, pass from their representation in Hilbert space to a kernel in phase space. In this paper it will be discussed how the time-dependence of the uncertainties of the corresponding time-dependent quantum problems can be incorporated into this formalism.

A formalism is presented in which quantum particle dynamics can be developed on its own rather than `quantization' of an underlying classical theory. It is proposed that the unification of probability and dynamics should be considered as the basic feature of quantum theory. Arguments are given to show that when such a unification is attempted at the configuration space level, the wave funtions of Schr$\ddot{o}$dinger theory appear as the natural candidates for the desired uni...