Time-Space Noncommutativity: Quantised Evolutions

Abstract

In previous work, we developed quantum physics on the Moyal plane with time-space noncommutativity, basing ourselves on the work of Doplicher et al.. Here we extend it to certain noncommutative versions of the cylinder, $\mathbb{R}^{3}$ and $\mathbb{R}\times S^{3}$. In all these models, only discrete time translations are possible, a result known before in the first two cases. One striking consequence of quantised time translations is that even though a time independent Hamiltonian is an observable, in scattering processes, it is conserved only modulo $\frac{2\pi}{\theta}$, where $\theta$ is the noncommutative parameter. (In contrast, on a one-dimensional periodic lattice of lattice spacing $a$ and length $L=Na$, only momentum mod $\frac{2\pi}{L}$ is observable (and can be conserved).) Suggestions for further study of this effect are made. Scattering theory is formulated and an approach to quantum field theory is outlined.