The relations, which define the Heisenberg group or its Lie algebra,
are of a fundamental nature and appeared in very different areas. For
example, the basic operators of differentiation and multiplication by an
independent variable in analysis satisfy to the same commutation
relations as observables of momentum and coordinate in quantum
mechanics.
It is very easy to oversee those common structures. In the paper "On the role of the Heisenberg group in harmonic analysis", Roger Howe said: "An investigator might be able to get what he wanted out of a situation while overlooking the extra structure imposed by the Heisenberg group,
structure which might enable him to get much more."
In this course we will touch many (but not all!) occurrences of the
Heisenberg group, mainly from analysis and quantum mechanics. We will
see how to derive important results from the general properties the
Heisenberg group and its representations. We will discuss also some
cross-fertilisation of different fields through their common
ingredient-the Heisenberg group.
The the course will be grouped around central ideas, technical aspects
will be avoided as much as possible.
I am planning to record some additional short videos
touching some interesting but optional topics.
The prerequisites include elementary group theory, linear algebra,
analysis and introductory Hilbert spaces. Some knowledge of Lie groups
and quantum mechanics would be an advantage, however, this is not a strict
requirement.
* Origins of the Heisenberg group and its Lie algebra in analysis and
physics; Heisenberg commutation relations; structure of the
Heisenberg groups, its automorphisms.
* Unitary representations of the Heisenberg group; orbit methods of
Kirillov.
* Stone-von Neumann theorem; Schroedinger and Fock-Segal-Bargmann
representations: their equivalence and intertwining operator
(Bargmann integral transform).
* Fourier inversion theorem, Schwartz space and Plancherel theorem.
* Time-frequencies analysis and wavelets.
* Theta-function, wavelet transform and the Gaussian.
* Calculus of pseudo-differential operators and quantisation; analysis
in the phase space and the Moyal bracket.
* Connection between classic and quantum mechanics.