Continuous-Representation Theory. III. On Functional Quantization of Classical Systems

Abstract

The form of Schrödinger's equation in a continuous representation is indicated for general systems and analyzed in detail for elementary Bose and Fermi systems for which illustrative solutions are given. For any system, a natural continuous representation exists in which state vectors are expressed as continuous, bounded functions of the corresponding classical variables. The natural continuous representation is generated by a suitable set S of unit vectors labeled by classical variables for which, for the system in question, the quantum action functional restricted to the domain S is equivalent to the classical action. When a classical action is viewed in this manner it contains considerable information about the quantum system. Augmenting the classical action with some physical significance of its variables, we prove that the classical theory virtually determines the quantum theory for the Bose system, while it uniquely determines the quantum theory for the Fermi system.