[Physics] Why position is not quantized in quantum mechanics

discretequantum mechanics

Usually in all the standard examples in quantum mechanics textbooks the spectrum of the position operator is continuous.

Are there (nontrivial) examples where position is quantized? or position quantization is forbidden for some fundamental reason in quantum mechanics (what is that reason?)?

Update: By position quantization I mean, if position (of a particle say) is measured we get only a discrete spectrum (say 2.5 cm and 2.7 cm, but nothing in between, just in the same way that energy levels can be discrete). In that sense interference patter of photons on a photographic plate cannot be considered as position quantization because the probability density varies "continuously" from maximum to zero (or am I wrong?)

Best Answer

Position quantization in vacuum is forbidden by rotational, translational, and boost invariance. There is no rotationally invariant grid. On the other hand, if you have electrons in a periodic potential, the result in any one band is mathematically the theory of an electron on a discrete lattice. In this case, the position is quantized, so that the momentum is periodic with period p.

Fourier duality

The quasimomentum p in a crystal is defined as i times the log of the eigenvalue of the crystal translation operator acting eigenvector. Here I give the definition of crystal position operators and momentum operators, which are relevant in the tight-binding bands, and to describe the analog of the canonical commutation relations which these operators obey. These are the discrete space canonical commutation relations.

In 1d, consider a periodic potential of period 1, the translation by one unit on an energy eigenstate commutes with H, so it gives a phase, which you write as:

$$ e^{ip}$$

and for p in a Brillouin zone $-\pi<0<\pi$ this gives a unique phase. The p direction has become periodic with period $2\pi$. This means that any superposition of p waves is a periodic function in p-space.

The Fourier transform is a duality, and a periodic spatial coordinate leads to discrete p. In this case, the duality takes a periodic p to a discrete x. Define the dual position operator using eigenstates of position. The position eigenstate is defined as follows on an infinite lattice:

$$ |x=0\rangle = \int_0^{2\pi} |p\rangle $$

Where the sum is over the Brillouin zone, and the sum is over one band only. This state comes with a whole family of others, which are translated by the lattice symmetry:

$$ |x=n\rangle = e^{iPn} |x=0\rangle = \int_0^{2\pi} e^{inp} |p\rangle $$

These are the only superpositions which are periodic on P space. This allows one to define the X operator as;

$$ X = \sum_n n |x=n\rangle\langle x=n| $$

The X operator has discrete eigenvalues, it tells you which atom you are bound to. It only takes you inside one band, it doesn't have matrix elements from band to band.

The commutation relations for the quasiposition X and quasimomentum P is derived from the fact that integer translation of X is accomplished by P:

$$ X+ n = e^{-inP} X e^{inP}$$

This is the lattice analog of the canonical commutation relation. It isn't infinitesimal. If you make the translation increment infinitesimal, the lattice goes away and it becomes Heisenberg's relation.

If you start with a free particle, any free $|p\rangle$ state is also a quasimomentum p state, but for any given quasimomentum p, all the states

$$ |p + 2\pi k\rangle $$

have the same quasimomentum for any integer k. If you add a small periodic potential and do perturbation theory, these different k-states at a fixed quasimomentum mix with each other to produce the bands, and the energy eigenstates $|p,n\rangle$ are labelled by the quasimomentum and the band number n:

you define the discrete position states as above for each band

$$ |x,n\rangle = \int_0^{2\pi} e^{inp} |p,n\rangle $$

These give you the discrete position operator and the discrete band number operator.

$$ N |x,n\rangle = n |x,n\rangle $$

if you further make the crystal of finite size, by imposing periodic boundaries in x, the discrete X become periodic and p becomes the Fourier dual lattice, so that the number of lattice points in x and in p are equal, but the increments are reciprocal.

This is what finite volume discrete space QM looks like, and it does not allow canonical commutators, since these only emerge at small lattice spacing.

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