Quantum Canonical Transformations and Integrability: Beyond Unitary Transformations

Abstract

Quantum canonical transformations are defined in analogy to classical canonical transformations as changes of the phase space variables which preserve the Dirac bracket structure. In themselves, they are neither unitary nor non-unitary. A definition of quantum integrability in terms of canonical transformations is proposed which includes systems which have fewer commuting integrals of motion than degrees of freedom. The important role of non-unitary transformations in integrability is discussed.