Speaker
Prof.
Cosmas K. Zachos
(Argonne National Laboratory, USA)
Description
Wigner's 1932 quasi-probability Distribution Function in phase-space, his first paper in English, is a special (Weyl) representation of the density matrix. It has been useful in describing quantum flows in semiclassical limits; quantum optics; nuclear physics; decoherence (eg, quantum computing); quantum chaos; "Welcher Weg" puzzles. It is also of great importance in signal processing (time-frequency analysis).
Nevertheless, a remarkable aspect of its internal logic, pioneered by H Groenewold and J Moyal, has only blossomed in the last quarter-century: It furnishes a third, alternate, formulation of Quantum Mechanics, independent of the conventional Hilbert Space, or Path Integral formulations, and perhaps more intuitive, since it shares language with classical mechanics and illuminates the classical limit.
It is logically complete and self-standing, and accommodates the uncertainty principle in an unexpected manner. Simple illustrations of this fact will be detailed.
