In mathematics, an antiunitary transformation is a bijective antilinear map

between two complex Hilbert spaces such that

for all and in , where the horizontal bar represents the complex conjugate. If additionally one has then is called an antiunitary operator.

Antiunitary operators are important in quantum mechanics because they are used to represent certain symmetries, such as time reversal.[1] Their fundamental importance in quantum physics is further demonstrated by Wigner's theorem.

Invariance transformations

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In quantum mechanics, the invariance transformations of complex Hilbert space   leave the absolute value of scalar product invariant:

 

for all   and   in  .

Due to Wigner's theorem these transformations can either be unitary or antiunitary.

Geometric Interpretation

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Congruences of the plane form two distinct classes. The first conserves the orientation and is generated by translations and rotations. The second does not conserve the orientation and is obtained from the first class by applying a reflection. On the complex plane these two classes correspond (up to translation) to unitaries and antiunitaries, respectively.

Properties

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  •   holds for all elements   of the Hilbert space and an antiunitary  .
  • When   is antiunitary then   is unitary. This follows from  
  • For unitary operator   the operator  , where   is complex conjugation (with respect to some orthogonal basis), is antiunitary. The reverse is also true, for antiunitary   the operator   is unitary.
  • For antiunitary   the definition of the adjoint operator   is changed to compensate the complex conjugation, becoming  
  • The adjoint of an antiunitary   is also antiunitary and   (This is not to be confused with the definition of unitary operators, as the antiunitary operator   is not complex linear.)

Examples

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  • The complex conjugation operator     is an antiunitary operator on the complex plane.
  • The operator   where   is the second Pauli matrix and   is the complex conjugation operator, is antiunitary. It satisfies  .

Decomposition of an antiunitary operator into a direct sum of elementary Wigner antiunitaries

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An antiunitary operator on a finite-dimensional space may be decomposed as a direct sum of elementary Wigner antiunitaries  ,  . The operator   is just simple complex conjugation on  

 

For  , the operator   acts on two-dimensional complex Hilbert space. It is defined by

 

Note that for  

 

so such   may not be further decomposed into  's, which square to the identity map.

Note that the above decomposition of antiunitary operators contrasts with the spectral decomposition of unitary operators. In particular, a unitary operator on a complex Hilbert space may be decomposed into a direct sum of unitaries acting on 1-dimensional complex spaces (eigenspaces), but an antiunitary operator may only be decomposed into a direct sum of elementary operators on 1- and 2-dimensional complex spaces.

References

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  1. ^ Peskin, Michael Edward (2019). An introduction to quantum field theory. Daniel V. Schroeder. Boca Raton. ISBN 978-0-201-50397-5. OCLC 1101381398.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Wigner, E. "Normal Form of Antiunitary Operators", Journal of Mathematical Physics Vol 1, no 5, 1960, pp. 409–412
  • Wigner, E. "Phenomenological Distinction between Unitary and Antiunitary Symmetry Operators", Journal of Mathematical Physics Vol 1, no 5, 1960, pp.414–416

See also

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