Deformation Quantization

This book contains eleven refereed research papers on deformation quantization by leading experts in the respective fields. These contributions are based on talks presented on the occasion of the meeting between mathematicians and theoretical physicists held in Strasbourg in May 2001. Topics covered are: star-products over Poisson manifolds, quantization of Hopf algebras, index theorems, globalization and cohomological problems. Both the mathematical and the physical approach ranging from asymptotic quantum electrodynamics to operads and prop theory will be presented. Historical remarks and surveys set the results presented in perspective. Directed at research mathematicians and theoretical physicists as well as graduate students, the volume will give an overview of a field of research that has seen enourmous acticity in the last years, with new ties to many other areas of mathematics and physics.

This work describes a general construction of a deformation quantization for any Poisson bracket on a manifold which comes from an action of $R^d$ on that manifold. These deformation quantizations are strict, in the sense that the deformed product of any two functions is again a function and that there are corresponding involutions and operator norms. Many of the techniques involved are adapted from the theory of pseudo-differential operators. The construction is shown to have many favorable properties. A number of specific examples are described, ranging from basic ones such as quantum disks, quantum tori, and quantum spheres, to aspects of quantum groups.

This book provides an introduction to deformation quantization and its relation to quantum field theory, with a focus on the constructions of Kontsevich and Cattaneo & Felder. This subject originated from an attempt to understand the mathematical structure when passing from a commutative classical algebra of observables to a non-commutative quantum algebra of observables. Developing deformation quantization as a semi-classical limit of the expectation value for a certain observable with respect to a special sigma model, the book carefully describes the relationship between the involved algebraic and field-theoretic methods. The connection to quantum field theory leads to the study of important new field theories and to insights in other parts of mathematics such as symplectic and Poisson geometry, and integrable systems. Based on lectures given by the author at the University of Zurich, the book will be of interest to graduate students in mathematics or theoretical physics. Readers will be able to begin the first chapter after a basic course in Analysis, Linear Algebra and Topology, and references are provided for more advanced prerequisites.

An accessible introduction to Poisson geometry suitable for graduate students.

This monograph presents various ongoing approaches to the vast topic of quantization, which is the process of forming a quantum mechanical system starting from a classical one, and discusses their numerous fruitful interactions with mathematics.The opening chapter introduces the various forms of quantization and their interactions with each other and with mathematics.A first approach to quantization, called deformation quantization, consists of viewing the Planck constant as a small parameter. This approach provides a deformation of the structure of the algebra of classical observables rather than a radical change in the nature of the observables. When symmetries come into play, deformation quantization needs to be merged with group actions, which is presented in chapter 2, by Simone Gutt.The noncommutativity arising from quantization is the main concern of noncommutative geometry. Allowing for the presence of symmetries requires working with principal fiber bundles in a non-commutative setup, where Hopf algebras appear naturally. This is the topic of chapter 3, by Christian Kassel. Nichols algebras, a special type of Hopf algebras, are the subject of chapter 4, by Nicolás Andruskiewitsch. The purely algebraic approaches given in the previous chapters do not take the geometry of space-time into account. For this purpose a special treatment using a more geometric point of view is required. An approach to field quantization on curved space-time, with applications to cosmology, is presented in chapter 5 in an account of the lectures of Abhay Ashtekar that brings a complementary point of view to non-commutativity.An alternative quantization procedure is known under the name of string theory. In chapter 6 its supersymmetric version is presented. Superstrings have drawn the attention of many mathematicians, due to its various fruitful interactions with algebraic geometry, some of which are described here. The remaining chapters discuss further topics, as the Batalin-Vilkovisky formalism and direct products of spectral triples.This volume addresses both physicists and mathematicians and serves as an introduction to ongoing research in very active areas of mathematics and physics at the border line between geometry, topology, algebra and quantum field theory.

This book is a survey of the theory of formal deformation quantization of Poisson manifolds, in the formalism developed by Kontsevich. It is intended as an educational introduction for mathematical physicists who are dealing with the subject for the first time. The main topics covered are the theory of Poisson manifolds, star products and their classification, deformations of associative algebras and the formality theorem. Readers will also be familiarized with the relevant physical motivations underlying the purely mathematical construction.

These two volumes constitute the Proceedings of the `Conférence Moshé Flato, 1999'. Their spectrum is wide but the various areas covered are, in fact, strongly interwoven by a common denominator, the unique personality and creativity of the scientist in whose honor the Conference was held, and the far-reaching vision that underlies his scientific activity. With these two volumes, the reader will be able to take stock of the present state of the art in a number of subjects at the frontier of current research in mathematics, mathematical physics, and physics. Volume I is prefaced by reminiscences of and tributes to Flato's life and work. It also includes a section on the applications of sciences to insurance and finance, an area which was of interest to Flato before it became fashionable. The bulk of both volumes is on physical mathematics, where the reader will find these ingredients in various combinations, fundamental mathematical developments based on them, and challenging interpretations of physical phenomena. Audience: These volumes will be of interest to researchers and graduate students in a variety of domains, ranging from abstract mathematics to theoretical physics and other applications. Some parts will be accessible to proficient undergraduate students, and even to persons with a minimum of scientific knowledge but enough curiosity.