Relating the quantum mechanics of discrete systems to standard canonical quantum mechanics

Abstract

Discrete quantum mechanics is here defined to be a quantum theory of wave functions defined on integers P_i and Q_i, while canonical quantum mechanics is assumed to be based on wave functions on the real numbers, R^n. We study reversible mappings from the position operators q_i and their quantum canonical operators p_i of a canonical theory, onto the discrete, commuting operators Q_i and P_i. In this paper we are particularly interested in harmonic oscillators. In the discrete system, these turn into deterministic models, which is our motivation for this study. We regard the procedure worked out here as a "canonical formalism" for discrete dynamics, and as a stepping stone to handling discrete deterministic systems in a quantum formalism.