Search results for "Free particle"
showing 2 items of 12 documents
Generalized Conformal Symmetry and Extended Objects from the Free Particle
1998
The algebra of linear and quadratic functions of basic observables on the phase space of either the free particle or the harmonic oscillator possesses a finite-dimensional anomaly. The quantization of these systems outside the critical values of the anomaly leads to a new degree of freedom which shares its internal character with spin, but nevertheless features an infinite number of different states. Both are associated with the transformation properties of wave functions under the Weyl-symplectic group $WSp(6,\Re)$. The physical meaning of this new degree of freedom can be established, with a major scope, only by analysing the quantization of an infinite-dimensional algebra of diffeomorphi…
Spatial decoherence in QED
2006
We consider the dynamics of a charged free particle, initially described by a coherent wave packet, interacting with an electromagnetic field characterized by the temperature T, considered as the environment. We have used dipole approximation neglecting the potential vector quadratic term in the minimal coupling Hamiltonian. This leads to the loss of coherence in the momentum representation, described by the decay of the off diagonal elements of the particle reduced density matrix, while the populations remain constant. Here we extend the analysis to the coordinate representation. We compute the particle reduced density matrix in this basis, analyzing in particular the mixing of various ef…