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The group structure of dynamical transformations between quantum reference frames

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arxiv 2012.15769 v2 pith:B5IXDL25 submitted 2020-12-31 quant-ph gr-qchep-thmath-phmath.MP

classification quant-phgr-qchep-thmath-phmath.MP
keywords quantumframesreferencetransformationsgroupalgebragalileistructure
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
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Recently, it was shown that when reference frames are associated to quantum systems, the transformation laws between such quantum reference frames need to be modified to take into account the quantum and dynamical features of the reference frames. This led to a relational description of the phase space variables of the quantum system of which the quantum reference frames are part of. While such transformations were shown to be symmetries of the system's Hamiltonian, the question remained unanswered as to whether they enjoy a group structure, similar to that of the Galilei group relating classical reference frames in quantum mechanics. In this work, we identify the canonical transformations on the phase space of the quantum systems comprising the quantum reference frames, and show that these transformations close a group structure defined by a Lie algebra, which is different from the usual Galilei algebra of quantum mechanics. We further find that the elements of this new algebra are in fact the building blocks of the quantum reference frames transformations previously identified, which we recover. Finally, we show how the transformations between classical reference frames described by the standard Galilei group symmetries can be obtained from the group of transformations between quantum reference frames by taking the zero limit of the parameter that governs the additional noncommutativity introduced by the quantum nature of inertial transformations.

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Cited by 6 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. How many degrees of freedom describe a quantum N-particle state?

    quant-ph 2026-07 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    For closed quantum N-particle systems all 3N canonical degrees of freedom are physical; the frame degrees of freedom that relational models discard reappear as non-Heisenberg terms in generalised uncertainty relations...

  2. Relational entanglement entropies and quantum reference frames in gauge theories

    hep-th 2025-06 accept novelty 7.0 of 10

    Quantum reference frames built from Wilson lines give lattice gauge theories gauge-invariant subsystem factorizations and a hierarchy of relational entanglement entropies.

  3. On the relation between perspective-neutral, algebraic, and effective quantum reference frames

    quant-ph 2025-07 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    For ideal quantum reference frames with a single constraint, the perspective-neutral, algebraic, and effective semiclassical approaches describe the same physics and the same frame-switching rules.

  4. Doubly Quantum Mechanics

    quant-ph 2024-12 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    Replacing SU(2) with SU_q(2) turns measurement probabilities into operators and makes reference-frame alignment between two observers fundamentally imprecise even in the limit of infinitely many exchanged spins.

  5. Specifying the operational meaning of quantum reference frames

    quant-ph 2026-07 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    Position-superposed labs define quantum reference frames operationally, differ from Wigner's-friend observers, and can broadcast outcomes without decohering their position superposition.

  6. What can we do in a symmetry-constrained perspective? The importance of the total charge's status in quantum reference frame frameworks

    quant-ph 2025-10 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    A two-observer Z2 toy model is used to argue that internal observers can access the total charge, favoring weak over strong symmetry in quantum reference frame frameworks.

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