Symplectic structures and dynamical symmetry groups

Apart from the total energy, the two-dimensional isotropic harmonic oscillator possesses three independent constants of motion which, withthe standard symplectic structure, generates a dynamical symmetry group isomorphic to SU(2). We show that, by suitably redefining thesymplectic structure, any of...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: G. F. Torres del Castillo, M.P. Velázquez Quesada
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2004
País:México
Institución:Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla
Repositorio:Redalyc-BUAP
OAI Identifier:oai:redalyc.org:57050609
Acceso en línea:https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=57050609
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Física, Astronomía y Matemáticas
quantization
symplectic structures
Dynamical symmetry groups
Descripción
Sumario:Apart from the total energy, the two-dimensional isotropic harmonic oscillator possesses three independent constants of motion which, withthe standard symplectic structure, generates a dynamical symmetry group isomorphic to SU(2). We show that, by suitably redefining thesymplectic structure, any of these three constants of motion can be used as a Hamiltonian, and that the remaining two, together with thetotal energy, generate a dynamical symmetry group isomorphic to SU(1,1). We also show that the standard energy levels of the quantumtwo-dimensional isotropic harmonic oscillator and their degeneracies are obtained making use of the appropriate representations of SU(1,1),provided that the canonical commutation relations are modified according to the new symplectic structure. Whereas in classical mechanicsthe different symplectic structures lead to equivalent formulations of the equations of motion, in quantum mechanics the modifications of thecommutation relations should be accompanied by modifications in the interpretation of the formalism in order to obtain results equivalent tothose found with the common relations.