JonnyMaddox said:
Ok thanks Sam. Could you also help me with coordinate representations? How do I apply this formula
[itex]\hat{G_{i}}=q^{I}(G_{i})_{I}^{J}p_{j}[/itex]
Is this like an inner product of the coordinates and the conjugate momentum?
Like this
[itex]\hat{G_{1}}=q^{1}(G_{1})_{1}^{1}p_{1}+q^{2}(G_{1})_{2}^{2}p_{2}+...[/itex]
First, you need to understand the connection between this and equation (4) in my previous post. In here, [itex]( q^{I} , p_{I} )[/itex] are continuous coordinate numbers, i.e. they don’t (directly) span the index space of matrices. However, if we write [tex]|Q \rangle = \sum_{I}^{n} q_{I} \ | I \rangle , \ \ \Rightarrow \ q^{I} = ( q_{I} )^{T} = \langle Q | I \rangle ,[/tex] [tex]| P \rangle = \sum_{J}^{n} p_{J} \ | J \rangle , \ \ \Rightarrow \ p_{J} = \langle J | P \rangle ,[/tex] then we can transform equation (4) into equation similar to the one you wrote: [tex]M ( p , q ) \equiv \langle Q | M | P \rangle = \sum_{I , J} M^{J}_{I} \ \langle Q | I \rangle \langle J | P \rangle = \sum_{I , J} M^{J}_{I} \ q^{I} \ p_{J} .[/tex] In fact (see the exercise below) [itex]G^{I}_{J} \equiv i | I \rangle \langle J |[/itex] and [itex]J^{I}_{J} \equiv q^{I} \ p_{J}[/itex] generate “isomorphic” Lie algebras.
Now, let us talk about coordinate representation. Let [itex]G_{a}[/itex] , [itex]a = 1 , 2 , \cdots , m[/itex] be basis in an m-dimensional Lie algebra [itex]\mathcal{L}^{m}[/itex] with the following Lie bracket relations [tex][ G_{a} , G_{b} ] = C_{a b}{}^{c} \ G_{c} . \ \ \ \ \ (1)[/tex] Since every Lie algebra has a faithful matrix representation, we may the [itex]G_{a}[/itex]’s to be a set of [itex](m)[/itex] matrices ([itex]n \times n[/itex]) and, therefore, realizing the Lie brackets by commutation relations [tex][ G_{a} , G_{b} ]^{J}_{I} = C_{a b}{}^{c} \ ( G_{c} )^{J}_{I} , \ \ I , J = 1 , 2 , \cdots , n . \ \ \ (2)[/tex] Now, we take n-pairs of real munbers [itex]( q^{I} , p_{I} )[/itex] and define m numbers (functionals) [itex]J_{a} ( q , p )[/itex] by [tex]J_{a} = ( G_{a} )^{J}_{I} \ q^{I} \ p_{J} , \ \ \ a = 1 , 2 , \cdots , m . \ \ \ \ (3)[/tex] Clearly, the set of numbers [itex]J_{a}[/itex] forms a representation of [itex]\mathcal{L}^{m}[/itex] , i.e. they satisfy a Lie bracket relation. To see this, take [itex]( q^{I} , p_{I} )[/itex] to be local coordinates on Poisson manifold [itex]\mathcal{P}^{2 n}[/itex] and evaluate the Poisson bracket [tex]\{ J_{a} , J_{b} \} = \sum_{K}^{n} \left( \frac{ \delta J_{a} }{ \delta q^{K} } \frac{ \delta J_{b} }{ \delta p_{K} } - \frac{ \delta J_{a} }{ \delta p_{K} } \frac{ \delta J_{b} }{ \delta q^{K} } \right) .[/tex] Using (2) and (3), we find [tex]\{ J_{a} , J_{b} \} = C_{a b}{}^{c} \ J_{c} . \ \ \ \ \ (4)[/tex] Since the structure constants of [itex]\mathcal{L}^{m}[/itex] appear on the RHS of (4), then [itex]\{ J_{a} , J_{b} \}[/itex] is a Lie bracket on [itex]\mathcal{L}^{m}[/itex]. Mathematically speaking, to every (associative) Lie algebra there corresponds a Poisson structure, i.e., the universal enveloping algebra of [itex]\mathcal{L}^{m}[/itex] is a Poisson-Lie algebra.
Okay, now I leave you with the following exercise. Define [tex]M^{I}_{J} = i \ | I \rangle \langle J | , \ \ \mbox{and} \ \ G^{I}_{J} = q^{I} \ p_{J} ,[/tex] then prove the following Lie brackets [tex][ M^{I}_{J} , M^{L}_{K} ] = \delta^{I}_{K} \ M^{L}_{J} - \delta^{L}_{J} \ M^{I}_{K} ,[/tex] [tex]\{ G^{I}_{J} , G^{L}_{K} \} = \delta^{I}_{K} \ G^{L}_{J} - \delta^{L}_{J} \ G^{I}_{K} .[/tex] What is the corresponding Lie group?
Sam