English

Relational bundle geometric formulation of non-relativistic quantum mechanics

Quantum Physics 2026-04-15 v2 High Energy Physics - Theory Mathematical Physics math.MP

Abstract

We present a bundle geometric formulation of non-relativistic many-particles Quantum Mechanics. A wave function is seen to be a C\mathbb{C}-valued cocyclic tensorial 0-form on configuration space-time seen as a principal bundle, while the Schr\"odinger equation flows from its covariant derivative, with the action functional supplying a (flat) cocyclic connection 1-form on the configuration bundle. In line with the historical motivations of Dirac and Feynman, ours is thus a Lagrangian geometric formulation of QM, in which the Dirac-Feynman path integral arises in a geometrically natural way. Applying the dressing field method, we obtain a relational reformulation of this geometric non-relativistic QM: a relational wave function is realised as a basic cocyclic 0-form on the configuration bundle. In this relational QM, any particle position can be used as a dressing field, i.e. as a "physical reference frame". The dressing field method naturally accounts for the freedom in choosing the dressing field, which is readily understood as a covariance of the relational formulation under changes of physical reference frame.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2501.02046,
  title  = {Relational bundle geometric formulation of non-relativistic quantum mechanics},
  author = {J. François and L. Ravera},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.02046},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

V2, 34 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Fortsch. Phys