Geometry of Uncertainty Relations for Linear Combinations of Position and Momentum

Abstract

For a quantum particle with a single degree of freedom, we derive preparational sum and product uncertainty relations satisfied by $N$ linear combinations of position and momentum observables. The state-independent bounds depend on their degree of incompatibility defined by the area of a parallelogram in an $N$-dimensional coefficient space. Maximal incompatibility occurs if the observables give rise to regular polygons in phase space. We also conjecture a Hirschman-type uncertainty relation for N observables linear in position and momentum, generalizing the original relation which lower-bounds the sum of the position and momentum Shannon entropies of the particle.