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Refined algebraic quantization: Systems with a single constraint. (English) Zbl 0887.46050

Budzyński, Robert (ed.) et al., Symplectic singularities and geometry of gauge fields. Proceedings of the Banach Center symposium on differential geometry and mathematical physics in Spring 1995, Warsaw, Poland. Warsaw: Polish Academy of Sciences, Inst. of Mathematics, Banach Cent. Publ. 39, 331-344 (1997).
Summary: This paper explores in some detail a recent proposal (the Rieffel induction/refined algebraic quantization scheme) for the quantization of constrained gauge systems. Below, the focus is on systems with a single constraint and, in this context, on the uniqueness of the construction. While in general the results depend heavily on the choices made for certain auxiliary structures, an additional physical argument leads to a unique result for typical cases. We also discuss the ‘superselection laws’ that results from this scheme and how their existence also depends on the choice of auxiliary structures. Again, when these structures are chosen in a physically motivated way, the resulting superselection laws are physically reasonable.
For the entire collection see [Zbl 0863.00038].

MSC:

46N50 Applications of functional analysis in quantum physics
81V17 Gravitational interaction in quantum theory
81Q10 Selfadjoint operator theory in quantum theory, including spectral analysis