English

A geometric approach to Wigner-type theorems

Mathematical Physics 2020-12-04 v1 math.MP

Abstract

Let HH be a complex Hilbert space and let P(H){\mathcal P}(H) be the associated projective space (the set of rank-one projections). Suppose that dimH3\dim H\ge 3. We prove the following Wigner-type theorem: if HH is finite-dimensional, then every orthogonality preserving transformation of P(H){\mathcal P}(H) is induced by a unitary or anti-unitary operator. This statement will be obtained as a consequence of the following result: every orthogonality preserving lineation of P(H){\mathcal P}(H) to itself is induced by a linear or conjugate-linear isometry (HH is not assumed to be finite-dimensional). As an application, we describe (not necessarily injective) transformations of Grassmannians preserving some types of principal angles.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2012.02063,
  title  = {A geometric approach to Wigner-type theorems},
  author = {Mark Pankov and Thomas Vetterlein},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2012.02063},
  year   = {2020}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-23T20:42:39.098Z