Transformation of Spin in Quantum Reference Frames

TL;DR

This paper develops a quantum reference frame framework for spin systems, modeling reference frames as quantum objects and analyzing their transformations, extending the formalism to non-Abelian groups.

Contribution

It introduces a model for quantum spin reference frames using coherent states and extends the quantum reference frame formalism to non-Abelian groups.

Findings

Quantum spin reference frames modeled with coherent states.

Transformations involve quantum operators replacing classical angles.

Invariance of certain Hamiltonians under extended quantum transformations.

Abstract

In physical experiments, reference frames are standardly modelled through a specific choice of coordinates used to describe the physical systems, but they themselves are not considered as such. However, any reference frame is a physical system that ultimately behaves according to quantum mechanics. We develop a framework for rotational (i.e. spin) quantum reference frames, with respect to which quantum systems with spin degrees of freedom are described. We give an explicit model for such frames as systems composed of three spin coherent states of angular momentum $j$ and introduce the transformations between them by upgrading the Euler angles occurring in classical $\textrm{SO}(3)$ spin transformations to quantum mechanical operators acting on the states of the reference frames. To ensure that an arbitrary rotation can be applied on the spin we take the limit of infinitely large $j$, in which case the angle operator possesses a continuous spectrum. We prove that rotationally invariant Hamiltonians (such as that of the Heisenberg model) are invariant under a larger group of quantum reference frame transformations. Our result is the first development of the quantum reference frame formalism for a non-Abelian group.