# Coherent states and uncertainty relations Publised in ”Quantum Field Theory, Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Optics, Pt.I: Symmetries and Algebraic Structure in Physics”, Edited by V. V. Dodonov and V. I. Man’ko, 1991, Nova Science Publishers, Inc., Singapore, pp. 247-249.

## Abstract

A sharp estimation of the $`L^p`$-norms of some matrix coefficients of the square integrable representations is conjectured. The conjecture can be proved for integer values of $`p`$ using a result of J. Burbea.

In an unpublished paper  we have obtained the following sharp estimation of the $`L^p`$-norms of the matrix coefficieents of the square integrable representations $`U_k(x,y,t)`$, with $`k𝐑`$, of the Heisenberg group (which is defined as the manifold $`𝐑^3`$ with the group multiplication given by the rule : $`(x,y,t)(x^{^{}},y^{^{}},t^{^{}})=(x+x^{^{}},y+y^{^{}},t+t^{^{}}+\frac{1}{2}(x{}_{}{}^{}yxy^{^{}}))`$):

$$(|k|(2\pi )^1_𝐑|(h,U_k(x,y,t)f)|^p𝑑x𝑑y)^{\frac{1}{p}}(\frac{2}{p})^{\frac{1}{p}}hf$$
(1)   
for all $`h,fL^2(𝐑)`$ and where the equality is attained iff $`h`$ and $`f`$ are Glauber coherent states. This result was quoted in  in connection with the uncertainty relations. In paper  we have considered, also, the following immediate question raised by the above result: do there exist such sharp estimations for the square integrable representations of other locally compact unimodular Lie groups ? Let us denote by $`G`$ such a group and let $`U`$ denote a unitary representation of $`G`$ in a Hilbert space $`H`$. We suppose that this representation is a representation with coherent states, i.e. there is a subgroup $`S`$ of $`G`$, a character $`e:S𝐓`$ of $`S`$, and a vector $`f_0`$ of $`H`$ such that:

$$U(s)f_0=e(s)f_0,sS,$$
(2)   
and

$$_{G/S}|(h,U(g)f_0)|^2𝑑\dot{g}<\mathrm{},hH.$$
(3)   
Here $`\dot{g}`$ is the Haar measure on $`G/S`$. Then, it is well known that there exists a real nonvanishing number $`dim(U)`$ so that:

$$dim(U)_{G/S}|(h,U(g)f_0)|^2𝑑\dot{g}=h^2f_0^2,hH.$$
(4)   
For such representations a straigthforward generalization of the result (1) is given by the following conjecture:

CONJECTURE. For any real $`p2`$ and for any $`hH`$ there exists a constant $`C(p)1`$ with $`C(2)=1`$ and such that:

$$\left(dim(U)_{G/S}|(h,U(g)f_0)|^p𝑑\dot{g}\right)^{\frac{1}{p}}=C(p)hf_0,hH.$$
(5)   
and where the equality is attained iff $`h`$ is a coherent state, i.e. iff $`h=cU(g)f_0`$, $`gG`$, $`c𝐂`$.

In the following we shall discuss the relevance of this conjecture for the uncertainty relations and we shall prove it when $`p`$ is any even natural number and $`G`$ is one of the following groups: the Heisenberg group, the group $`SU(2)`$ and the group $`SU(1,1)`$.

From (4) it follows that the Hilbert space $`H`$ is embedded in the Hilbert space $`L^2(G/S,dim(U)d\dot{g})`$ as a subspace with reproducing kernel. Hence for any vector $`hH`$ with $`h=1`$ we can define the wave function $`(h,U(g)f_0)`$ on $`G/S`$ and a probability distribution $`P(\dot{g})=|(h,U(g)f_0)|^2`$ on $`G/S`$. Then it is evident that the left hand side of (5) can be considered as a measure of the extent to which the above defined wave function and the corresponding probability distribution are peaked on $`G/S`$. From (5) it follows that the probability distribution $`P(\dot{g})`$ on $`G/S`$ cannot be arbitrarily peaked on the phase space $`G/S`$. Hence (5) is an uncertainty relation for the wave function defined on the phase space and the most peaked wave functions are those associated with the coherent states.

When $`G`$ is one of the three particular cases, enumerated above, the phase space $`G/S`$ will be denoted by $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ and is, respectively, the complex plane $`𝐂`$, the unit disc and the Riemann sphere. The irreducible representations with coherent states on $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ of the first and last group can be parametrrized by a positive real number $`\beta `$ and the corresponding generalized dimension $`dim(\beta )`$ is defined by: $`dim(\beta )=\beta `$ for the Heisenberg group and $`dim(\beta )=\beta 1`$ for the group $`SU(1,1)`$. For the group $`SU(2)`$ the parameter $`\beta `$ takes only integer and semiinteger values and the generalized dimension $`dim(\beta )`$ is equal with the ordinary one which is given by the well known formula: $`dim(\beta )=2\beta +1`$. The invariant measure $`d\dot{g}`$ on $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is given by $`d\dot{g}=\pi ^1dxdy`$ for the Heisenberg group and by $`d\dot{g}=\pi ^1(1\pm |z|^2)^2dxdy`$, $`(z=x+iy)`$, for the groups $`SU(2)`$ and $`SU(1,1)`$ respectively. In all three cases the Hilbert space $`H_\beta `$ is unitarily equivalent with the space of holomorphic functions on $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ with the norm defined by:

$$f_\beta =dim(\beta )_\mathrm{\Delta }|f(z)|^2k_\beta (|z|^2)^1𝑑\dot{g},$$
(6)   
where $`k_\beta (z)=\mathrm{exp}(\beta z)`$ for the Heisenberg group, $`k_\beta (z)=(1z)^\beta `$ for the group $`SU(1,1)`$, and $`k_\beta (z)=(1+z)^{2\beta }`$ for the group $`SU(2)`$. The reproducing kernel is given by $`k_\beta (z)`$ In order to prove the conjecture we shall use the following theorem proved in :

THEOREM. If $`fH_\beta `$ and $`hH_\beta ^{^{}}`$, then $`fhH_{\beta +\beta ^{^{}}}`$ and

$$fh_{\beta +\beta ^{^{}}}f_\beta h_\beta ^{^{}}.$$
(7)   
The equality is attained iff either $`fh=0`$ or $`f`$ and $`h`$ are of the form $`f=c_1k_\beta (\overline{w}z)`$, $`h=c_2k_\beta ^{^{}}(\overline{w}z)`$ for some $`w\mathrm{\Delta }`$ and some nonzero complex constants $`c_1`$ and $`c_2`$. 

As a corollary one obtain  for any natural number $`n`$:

$$f^n_{n\beta }f_\beta ^n$$
(8)   
with the equality attained either for $`f=0`$ or when $`f=ck_\beta (\overline{w}z)`$ for some nonzero complex constant $`c`$.

From (8) it follows for the probability distribution on $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ given by $`P_\beta (z)=|f(z)|^2k_\beta (|z|^2)^1`$ that:

$$_\mathrm{\Delta }P_\beta (z)^n𝑑\dot{g}\frac{dim(\beta )}{dim(n\beta )}$$
(9)   
with the equality for $`P_\beta (z)=k_\beta (\overline{w}z)^2k_\beta (|z|^2)^1k_\beta (|w|^2)^1`$. Hence, the most concentrated wavefunction defined on the phase space $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is the coherent state $`k_\beta (\overline{w}z)k_\beta (|z|^2)^{\frac{1}{2}}k_\beta (|w|^2)^{\frac{1}{2}}`$.