[Physics] Canonical Commutation Relations

commutatorfourier transformmathematical physicsquantum mechanicsquantum-interpretations

Is it logically sound to accept the canonical commutation relation (CCR)

$$[x,p]~=~i\hbar$$

as a postulate of quantum mechanics? Or is it more correct to derive it given some form for $p$ in the position basis?

I understand QM formalism works, it's just that I sometimes end up thinking in circles when I try to see where the postulates are.

Could someone give me a clear and logical account of what should be taken as a postulate in this regard, and an explanation as to why their viewpoint is the most right, in some sense!

Best Answer

Your running into circles will stop once you commit yourself to a choice.

What to regard as postulate is always a matter of choice (by you or by whoever writes an exposition of the basics). One starts from a point where the development is in some sense simplest. And one may motivate the postulates by analogies or whatever. The CCR are a simple coordinate-independent starting point.

However it is more sensible to introduce the momentum as the infinitesimal generator of a translation in position space. This is its fundamental meaning and essential for Noether's theorem, and has the CCR as a simple corollary.

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