English

ZM theory III: Classical oscillators and semi-classical Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2007-05-23 v1

Abstract

We consider the description of classical oscillatory motion in ZM theory, and explore the relationship of ZM theory to semi-classical Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization. The treatment illustrates some features of ZM theory, especially the inadequacies of classical and semi-classical treatments due to non-analyticity of the mapping of classical trajectories onto the ZM clock field. While the more complete ZM formalism is not developed here, the non-analyticities in the classical treatment resemble issues in the comparison of classical and quantum formalisms. We also show that semi-classical quantization is valid for a periodic manifold in ZM theory, though the quantum number n=0n=0 is allowed, as it would be in quantum mechanics for a periodic manifold. Still, this suggests a connection to the first-order success of Bohr theory in describing the phenomenology of atomic quantum states. The approximate nature of the semi-classical treatment of three dimensional atomic orbits is, however, also apparent in relation to ZM theory. These observations are preliminary to a discussion of ZM theory in relation to quantum mechanics and quantum field theory in subsequent papers.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.gr-qc/0605005,
  title  = {ZM theory III: Classical oscillators and semi-classical Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization},
  author = {Yaneer Bar-Yam},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:gr-qc/0605005},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

16 pages, 1 figure