The Quantum-Classical Transition: The Fate of the Complex Structure

According to Dirac, fundamental laws of Classical Mechanics should be recovered by means of an "appropriate limit" of Quantum Mechanics. In the same spirit it is reasonable to enquire about the fundamental geometric structures of Classical Mechanics which will survive the appropriate limit of Quantum Mechanics. This is the case for the symplectic structure. On the contrary, such geometric structures as the metric tensor and the complex structure, which are necessary for the formulation of the Quantum theory, may not survive the Classical limit, being not relevant in the Classical theory. Here we discuss the Classical limit of those geometric structures mainly in the Ehrenfest and Heisenberg pictures, i.e. at the level of observables rather than at the level of states. A brief discussion of the fate of the complex structure in the Quantum-Classical transition in the Schroedinger picture is also mentioned.Comment: 19 page

Alternative Structures and Bihamiltonian Systems

In the study of bi-Hamiltonian systems (both classical and quantum) one starts with a given dynamics and looks for all alternative Hamiltonian descriptions it admits.In this paper we start with two compatible Hermitian structures (the quantum analog of two compatible classical Poisson brackets) and look for all the dynamical systems which turn out to be bi-Hamiltonian with respect to them.Comment: 18 page

Alternative Algebraic Structures from Bi-Hamiltonian Quantum Systems

We discuss the alternative algebraic structures on the manifold of quantum states arising from alternative Hermitian structures associated with quantum bi-Hamiltonian systems. We also consider the consequences at the level of the Heisenberg picture in terms of deformations of the associative product on the space of observables.Comment: Accepted for publication in Int. J. Geom. Meth. Mod. Phy

Quantum Bi-Hamiltonian systems, alternative Hermitian structures and Bi-Unitary transformations

We discuss the dynamical quantum systems which turn out to be bi-unitary with respect to the same alternative Hermitian structures in a infinite-dimensional complex Hilbert space. We give a necessary and sufficient condition so that the Hermitian structures are in generic position. Finally the transformations of the bi-unitary group are explicitly obtained.Comment: Note di Matematica vol 23, 173 (2004

Quantum Tomography twenty years later

A sample of some relevant developments that have taken place during the last twenty years in classical and quantum tomography are displayed. We will present a general conceptual framework that provides a simple unifying mathematical picture for all of them and, as an effective use of it, three subjects have been chosen that offer a wide panorama of the scope of classical and quantum tomography: tomography along lines and submanifolds, coherent state tomography and tomography in the abstract algebraic setting of quantum systems

Stochastic evolution of finite level systems: classical vs. quantum

Quantum dynamics of the density operator in the framework of a single probability vector is analyzed. In this framework quantum states define a proper convex quantum subset in an appropriate simplex. It is showed that the corresponding dynamical map preserving a quantum subset needs not be stochastic contrary to the classical evolution which preserves the entire simplex. Therefore, violation of stochasticity witnesses quantumness of evolution.Comment: 8 page

Quantum Systems and Alternative Unitary Descriptions

Motivated by the existence of bi-Hamiltonian classical systems and the correspondence principle, in this paper we analyze the problem of finding Hermitian scalar products which turn a given flow on a Hilbert space into a unitary one. We show how different invariant Hermitian scalar products give rise to different descriptions of a quantum system in the Ehrenfest and Heisenberg picture.Comment: 18 page

On pseudo-stochastic matrices and pseudo-positive maps

Stochastic matrices and positive maps in matrix algebras proved to be very important tools for analysing classical and quantum systems. In particular they represent a natural set of transformations for classical and quantum states, respectively. Here we introduce the notion of pseudo-stochastic matrices and consider their semigroup property. Unlike stochastic matrices, pseudo-stochastic matrices are permitted to have matrix elements which are negative while respecting the requirement that the sum of the elements of each column is one. They also allow for convex combinations, and carry a Lie group structure which permits the introduction of Lie algebra generators. The quantum analog of a pseudo-stochastic matrix exists and is called a pseudo-positive map. They have the property of transforming a subset of quantum states (characterized by maximal purity or minimal von Neumann entropy requirements) into quantum states. Examples of qubit dynamics connected with "diamond" sets of stochastic matrices and pseudo-positive maps are dealt with.Comment: 15 pages; revised versio

On Reduced Time Evolution for Initially Correlated Pure States

A new method to deal with reduced dynamics of open systems by means of the Schr\"odinger equation is presented. It allows one to consider the reduced time evolution for correlated and uncorrelated initial conditions.Comment: accepted in Open Sys. Information Dy