The velocity operator in quantum mechanics in noncommutative space

Samuel Kovacik, Peter Presnajder

Published 2013-09-18Version 1

We tested in the framework of quantum mechanics the consequences of a noncommutative (NC from now on) coordinates. We restricted ourselves to 3D rotationally invariant NC configuration spaces with dynamics specified by the Hamiltonian H = H(kin) + U, H(kin) is an analogue of kinetic energy and U = U(r) denotes an arbitrary rotationally invariant potential. We introduced the velocity operator by Heisenberg relation using the commutator of the coordinate and the Hamiltonian operators. We found that the NC velocity operator possesses various general, independent of potential, properties: 1) uncertainty relations indicate an existence of a natural kinetic energy cut-off, 2) vanishing commutator relations for velocity components, which is non-trivial in the NC case, 3) modified relation between the velocity operator and H(kin) that indicates the existence of maximal velocity and confirms the kinetic energy cut-off, 4) All these results sum up in canonical (general, not depending on a particular form of the central potential) commutation relations of the Euclidean group E(4), 5) NC Heisenberg equation for the velocity operator, relating acceleration to derivatives of the potential.