World-line Quantisation of a Reciprocally Invariant System

TL;DR

This paper develops a world-line quantisation framework for a system invariant under reciprocal relativity symmetries, revealing a continuous mass spectrum with potential tachyonic states and a spectrum of spin-zero physical states.

Contribution

It introduces a novel quantisation approach for reciprocal relativity invariant systems, linking the world-line cosmological constant to the quadratic Casimir of the quaplectic group.

Findings

Physical state spectrum includes only spin-zero states.

Mass-squared spectrum is continuous over all real numbers.

Tachyonic states are present in the spectrum.

Abstract

We present the world-line quantisation of a system invariant under the symmetries of reciprocal relativity (pseudo-unitary transformations on ``phase space coordinates" $(x^\mu(\tau),p^\mu(\tau))$ which preserve the Minkowski metric and the symplectic form, and global shifts in these coordinates, together with coordinate dependent transformations of an additional compact phase coordinate, $\theta(\tau)$). The action is that of free motion over the corresponding Weyl-Heisenberg group. Imposition of the first class constraint, the generator of local time reparametrisations, on physical states enforces identification of the world-line cosmological constant with a fixed value of the quadratic Casimir of the quaplectic symmetry group $Q(D-1,1)\cong U(D-1,1)\ltimes H(D)$, the semi-direct product of the pseudo-unitary group with the Weyl-Heisenberg group (the central extension of the global translation group, with central extension associated to the phase variable $\theta(\tau)$). The spacetime spectrum of physical states is identified. Even though for an appropriate range of values the restriction enforced by the cosmological constant projects out negative norm states from the physical spectrum, leaving over spin zero states only, the mass-squared spectrum is continuous over the entire real line and thus includes a tachyonic branch as well.