Deformation Quantization: Observable Algebras, States and Representation Theory

Abstract

In these lecture notes I give an introduction to deformation quantization. The quantization problem is discussed in some detail thereby motivating the notion of star products. Starting from a deformed observable algebra, i.e. the star product algebra, physical applications require to study representations of this algebra. I review the recent development of a representation theory including techniques like Rieffel induction and Morita equivalence. Applications beyond quantization theory are found in noncommutative field theories.