Ebook The Wigner Transform 1St Edition Maurice de Gosson Online PDF All Chapter

The Wigner Transform 1st Edition
Maurice De Gosson
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-wigner-transform-1st-edition-maurice-de-gosson/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...
Hormone Power Transform Your Diet Transform Your Life

1st Edition Marjolein Dubbers
https://ebookmeta.com/product/hormone-power-transform-your-diet-
transform-your-life-1st-edition-marjolein-dubbers/
The Art of Multiprocessor Programming 2nd Edition

Maurice Herlihy
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-art-of-multiprocessor-
programming-2nd-edition-maurice-herlihy/
The Ultimate Wilderness Survival Guide For Kids Maurice

Ripple
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-ultimate-wilderness-survival-
guide-for-kids-maurice-ripple/
The Pianist s Dictionary Second Edition Maurice Hinson

Wesley Roberts
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-pianist-s-dictionary-second-
edition-maurice-hinson-wesley-roberts/
The Right to Difference French Universalism and the
Jews Maurice Samuels
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-right-to-difference-french-
universalism-and-the-jews-maurice-samuels/
The Piano in Chamber Ensemble Third Edition Maurice

Hinson Wesley Roberts
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-piano-in-chamber-ensemble-
third-edition-maurice-hinson-wesley-roberts/
Advanced Geodynamics The Fourier Transform Method 1st

Edition David T. Sandwell
https://ebookmeta.com/product/advanced-geodynamics-the-fourier-
transform-method-1st-edition-david-t-sandwell/
Neptune, the 12th house, and Pisces - 2nd Edition: The

Timelessness of Truth Maurice Fernandez
https://ebookmeta.com/product/neptune-the-12th-house-and-
pisces-2nd-edition-the-timelessness-of-truth-maurice-fernandez/
The Boys of St Columb s The Education of a New Ireland

1st Edition Maurice Fitzpatrick
https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-boys-of-st-columb-s-the-
education-of-a-new-ireland-1st-edition-maurice-fitzpatrick/
Advanced Textbooks in Mathematics ·
_The
/
/1uner
storm
\
\
1
Wiiher
Transform
Advanced Textbooks in Mathematics
ISSN: 2059-769X
Published
The Wigner Transform

by Maurice de Gosson
Forthcoming
Periods and Special Functions in Transcendence

by Paula B Tretkoff
Conformal Maps and Geometry

by Dmitry Belyaev
Advanced Textbooks in Mathematics
_The
IUDer
Transform
Maurice de Gosson
University of Vienna, Austria
-- ·-· < -~· -· ···-
rt l
t. f ·--~
·:f--'·:~~~-.-_.._ }?J\ /
\ \ 1 : ~ .1 ·;
i
,,· ____ _
,:..__ ;· \.
'·-- ----
'~ World Scientific

EW JERSEY • LONDON • SINGAPORE • BEIJING • SHANGHAI • HONG KONG • TAIPEI • CHENNAI • TOKYO
Published by
World Scientific Publishing Europe Ltd.

57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE
Head office: 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224
USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Gosson, Maurice de.
Title: The Wigner transform I by Maurice de Gosson (University of Vienna, Austria).
Description: New Jersey : World Scientific, 2017. I Series: Advanced textbooks in mathematics
Identifiers: LCCN 20160566801 ISBN 9781786343086 (he : alk. paper) I
ISBN 9781786343093 (pbk : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Phase space (Statistical physics) I Statistical mechanics.
Classification: LCC QC174.85.P48 G67 20171 DDC 530.15/95--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016056680
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Copyright © 2017 by World Scientific Publishing Europe Ltd.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval
system now known or to be invented, without written permission ji'Om the Publisha
For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance
Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy
is not required from the publisher.
Desk Editors: V. Vishnu Mohan/Mary Simpson
Typeset by Stallion Press

Email: enquiries@stallionpress.com
Printed in Singapore
To My Charlyne, With All My Love
Preface
The study of the Wigner transform and of its twin brother, the ambiguity
function, has an already long and illustrious history, with strong links
to both pure and applied mathematics, and to physics and engineering.
In this book, we aim at giving a comprehensive and mathematically
rigorous treatment of these subjects at a level which should be accessible
to undergraduate upper~level students in mathematics and mathematical
physics (we have put a special emphasize on the applications to quantum
mechanics, some of them of a rather advanced level). The material should
also be of interest to mathematicians and engineers working in signal
analysis and time-frequency analysis; the confirmed researcher can use this
book as a reference work, since we have tried to unify different topics which
are more or less spread out in the literature.
Needless to saY,' this book is not the first approaching the Wigner
transform using methods from harmonic analysis. Well-cited predecessors
are the comprehensive books by Folland Harmonic Analysis in Phase Space
and by Grochenig Time-Frequency Analysis. The number of contributions
in the form of research or expository papers defies the imagination: we
have not been able to take into account all the recent advances, but rather
focused on the potentially most important; of course these choices do reflect
the author's own tastes.
The book is structured as a series of Lecture Notes; the order in which .
the topics are introduced is therefore linear. I have tried to present the
material using the principle of parsimony, and the mathematics is presented
vii
viii Preface
and structured following the old-fashioned but efficient way Definition -

Lemma - Proposition - Corollary (including, of course, Examples and
Remarks). The chapters are short, and designed for a 60 minutes lecture
(this may be wishful thinking - it depends of course on the initial level
of the audience; I have here in mind upper-level European or American
undergraduates or graduate students).
This work has been financed by the grant P27773-N23 of FWF Der
Wissenschaftsfonds (the Austrian Research Agency)
Maurice A. de Gosson
Vienna, Summer 2016
Introduction
The Wigner transform has a long story which started in 1932 with
Eugene Wigner's ground-breaking paper On the quantum correction for
thermodynamic equilibrium (Phys. Rev. 40 (1932), 799-755). In this paper,
Wigner introduced a probability quasi-distribution that allowed him to
express quantum mechanical expectation values in the same form as
the averages of classical statistical mechanics. There have been many
speculations about how Wigner got his idea; his eponymous transform
seems to be pulled out of thin air. In a footnote on the second page of
his paper, Wigner writes "This expression was found by L. Szilard and
the present author some years ago for another purpose". However, the
participation of Leo Szilard to this discovery is somewhat questionable;
it is more likely that Wigner wanted to boost Szilard's career as the latter
was leaving pre-Nazi Germany at this time. Truly, Wigner's definition, in
modern notation
W'ljl(x,p) =1
- !
21rn -=
00
e-~tPY1jl
i ( x + -y
1 )
2
1)! ( x- -y
1 ) dy
2
(0.1)
did not remind of anything one had seen before; a rapid glance suggests it
is something of a mixture of a Fourier transform and of a convolution. And,
yet, it worked! For instance, under some mild assumptions on the function
'lj; we recover the probability amplitudes 11)!(xW and l<f>(p)l 2 of quantum
ix
X Introduction
I:
mechanics:
W'lj;(x,p)dp = 11/J(xW,
I: W'lj;(x,p)dx = I<P(P)I 2 ;
assuming 1/J normalized to unity and integrating any of these equalities,
we get
I:I: W'lj;(x,p)dpdx = 1
so that the Wigner transform W'lj; can be used as a mock probability

distribution. The rub comes from the fact that W'lj;(x,p) invariably takes
negative values (except when 'ljJ is a Gaussian); it is therefore customary
to call W 1/J a quasi-distribution. In the paper by Hillery et al. Distribution
Functions in Physics: Fundamentals (Phys. Reps. 106 (1984), 121-167) ~
which is coauthored by Wigner himself ~ we are told that the particular
choice (0.1) was made because it seemed to be the simplest of those
for which each Galilei transformation corresponds to the same Galilei
transformation of the quantum mechanical wave functions. In later work
Wigner [1979] returned to this issue by considering properties which
one would want such a distribution to satisfy. He then showed that
the distribution given by (0.1) was the only one which satisfied these
properties. A subsequent paper by O'Connell and Wigner Some properties
of a non-negative quantum-mechanical distribution function (Phys. Lett. A
85(3), 121-126 (1981)) considered a somewhat different list of properties
and showed that these, too, led to the expression in (0.1). The \Vigner
transform was rediscovered by Villein signal analysis in 1948 and eventually
became a popular tool among engineers through the work of Claasen and
Mecklenbriiuker; it is closely related to the windowed Fourier and Gabor
transforms familiar in time-frequency analysis.
This book is organized as follows.
Chapter 1: We introduce two simple but essential unitary operators:
the Heisenberg shift operator and the Grossmann-Royer parity operator.
They will allow us not only to define the Wigner transform and the
ambiguity function in a simple and natural way, but they will allow us
to give neat and concise proofs of numerous important properties of the
Wigner transform.
Chapter 2: We define the cross-Wigner transform using the
Grossmann-Royer operator, and show that this definition is equivalent to
Introduction xi
Wigner's original definition. We list and prove several important properties,

and show that the Wigner transform can be extended to tempered
distributions.
Chapter 3: The cross-ambiguity function is defined in terms of
the Heisenberg operator; the usual explicit expression is derived. We
prove that the cross-ambiguity function is closely related to the cross-
Wigner transform, both analytically by a symplectic Fourier transform,
and algebraically. The main properties are proven.
Chapter 4: In this chapter, we show that the Weyl operators familiar
from the theory of pseudodifferential operators can be naturally defined
using the cross-Wigner transform (or the cross-ambiguity function). We
take the opportunity to discuss the various other possible definitions of
Weyl operators. This chapter thus justifies the terminology "Weyl-Wigner-
Moyal theory" which is often used.
Chapter 5: It is important to list the symmetries underlying a
mathematical theory since they allow a better understanding of that theory
and can considerably simplify its study. We show in this chapter that
the natural group of symmetries in the Weyl-Wigner-Moyal theory is
the symplectic group (this is the well-known symplectic covariance of the
Wigner transform and the associated Weyl calculus). We show in addition
that the symplectic group is a maximal group of symmetries.
Chapter 6: This chapter is devoted to an extremely useful formula,
the Moyal identity (for both the cross-Wigner transform and the cross-
ambiguity function). Not only does the Moyal identity to prove important
regularity results, it is also an essential tool for proving inversion formula
which allow the reconstruction of functions from the knowledge of their
cross-Wigner transform (or their cross-ambiguity function). This has
important applications to the study of the so-called weak values from
time-symmetric quantum mechanics. The Moyal identity is also a key
tool for the study of wavepacket transforms, generalizing the Bargmann
. transform.
Chapter 7: An essential property of the Wigner transform is that it
allows the definition and the study of a fundamental functional space,
the Feichtinger algebra, which is the simplest representative of the class
of modulation spaces introduced by H. Feichtinger in the mid-1980's. In
this chapter, we study and define this algebra, exploiting the properties of
the Wigner transform in place of those of Gabor transform which is more
usual in the literature. This approach allows to highlight in an easy way
the metaplectic invariance of the Feichtinger algebra.
xii Introduction
Chapter 8: The Wigner transform was introduced as a substitute for

a probability density in phase space. It is however not the only possible
choice. In this chapter we discuss the so-called Cohen class whose elements
are obtained by convolution of the (cross- )Wigner distribution with a
tempered distribution. We study two examples: the Husimi distribution and
its generalization, and the Born-Jordan distribution, which is a newcomer.
Chapter 9: Gaussian functions play a privileged role in many parts
of analysis. In this chapter we give explicit expressions for the cross- ·
Wigner transform of generalized Gaussians (the " squeezed coherent states
of quantum optics and mechanics"), as a particular result we recover the
well-known formula for the Wigner transform of the standard Gaussian. We
complete our results by computing explicitly the cross-Wigner transform of
the Hermite functions.
Chapter 10: We study in this chapter the properties of functions whose
Wigner transform is dominated by a phase space Gaussian function. We
show how this problem is related to Hardy's uncertainty principle, which
gives conditions for a function and its Fourier transform to have exponential
decrease. This requires tools from symplectic geometry (Williamson's
symplectic diagonalization theorem, and its variants).
Chapter 11: In this chapter (which is the first directly concerned with
quantum-mechanical applications), we define in a rigorous way the notions
of Moyal star-product, and of the associated twisted convolution. The Moyal
star-product is an essential ingredient in deformation quantization. We
show that the latter can be viewed as a phase space pseudodifferential
calculus, intertwined with the standard Weyl calculus using the wavepacket
transforms previously introduced.
Chapter 12: This chapter is devoted to the statistical aspects of
quantum mechanics from the phase space point of view, and hence very
much along the lines of Wigner. A novelty is however the definition of
a study of the notion of quantum-mechanical weak values, which play a
fundamental role in modern quantum physics (the time-symmetric theory,
as it is also called) .
Chapter 13: We define a study of the essential notion of density
operator, which is closely associated to mixed states in quantum mechanics.
The Weyl symbol of a density operator is a convex sum of (possibly
infinitely many) Wigner transforms. Density operators are self-adjoint
positive trace-class operators; we study these in some detail, having in mind
the difficulties due to positivity issues. We prove the strong Robertson-
Schrodinger uncertainty principle.
Introduction xiii
Chapter 14: We develop the theory of density operators initiated in

Chapter 13 by focusing on the positivity issues, which are related to the
verification of the Kastler-Loupias-Miracle Sole condition, which are a
quantum version of Bochner's theorem on functions of positive type. This
leads us to introduce the Narcowich-Wigner spectrum of a symbol, and to
shortly discuss the open yet unsolved problems.
Chapter 15: In this last chapter we introduce, following previous
work of ours, the geometric and topological notion of "quantum blob".
A quantum blob is the image of a phase space ball with radius -lfi, As simple
as this definition may seem, it is closely related to the Wigner transform
of Gaussians, and can be used to obtain a symplectically invariant coarse-
graining of classical phase space. The notion is also closely related to the
topological notion of symplectic capacity, which is itself related to Gromov's
non-squeezing theorem.
Contents
Preface vii
Introduction ix
Part I General Mathematical Framework 1
1 Phase Space Translations and Reflections 3

1.1 Some Notation 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
1.1.1 The spaces IR~ and IR; 000000 0 3
1.1.2 The symplectic structure of phase space 0 4
1.1.3 Some usual function spaces 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
1.1.4 Fourier transform 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
1.2 The Heisenberg-Weyl and Grossmann-Royer
Operators 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
1.201 The displacement Hamiltonian 0 0 0 0 6
1.202 The Heisenberg-Weyl operators 0 0 0 7
1.203 The Grossmann-Royer parity operators 9
1.3 A Functional Relation Between T(z 0 ) and R(zo) 12
1.4 Quantization of Exponentials 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14
XV
xvi Contents
2 The Cross-Wigner Transform 17

2.1 Definitions of the Cross-Wigner Transform . 17
2.1.1 First definition . . . . . . . . . .. . 17
2.1.2 Wigner's definition . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.1.3 The Gabor transform and its variants 19
2.1.4 Extension to tempered distributions 20
2.2 Properties of the Cross-Wigner Transform . 22 .
2.2.1 Elementary algebraic properties .. 22
2.2.2 Analytical properties and continuity 24
2.2.3 The marginal properties 26
2.2.4 Translating Wigner transforms 27
3 The Cross-Ambiguity Function 31

3.1 Definition of the Cross-Ambiguity Function 31
3.1.1 Definition using the Heisenberg-Weyl
operator . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.1.2 Traditional definition . . . . . . . . . 32
3.1.3 The Fourier-Wigner transform . . . . 33
3.2 Properties and Relation with the Wigner Transform 34
3.2.1 Properties of the cross-ambiguity function. 34
3.2.2 Relation with the cross-Wigner transform . 35
3.2.3 The maximum of the ambiguity function 37
4 Weyl Operators 39
4.1 The Notion of Weyl Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.1.1 Weyl's definition, and rigorous definitions . . 39
4.1.2 The distributional kernel of a Weyl operator 43
4.1.3 Relation with the cross-Wigner transform . 47
4.2 Some Properties of the Weyl Correspondence 49
4.2.1 The adjoint of a Weyl operator . 49
4.2.2 An L 2 boundedness result . 50
5 Symplectic Covariance 53
5.1 Symplectic Covariance Properties . . . . . . ' 53
5.1.1 Review of some properties of Mp(n)
and Sp(n) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5.1.2 Proof of the symplectic covariance property . 55
Contents xvii
5.1.3 Symplectic covariance of Weyl operators 58

5.2 Maximal Covariance . . . . . . . 59
5.2.1 Antisymplectic matrices .. 60
5.2.2 The maximality property . 62
5.2.3 The case of Weyl operators 64
6 The Moyal Identity 67

6.1 Precise Statement and Proof. 67
6.1.1 The general Moyal identity 67
6.1.2 A continuity result . . . . . 69
6.2 Reconstruction Formulas . . . . . . 70
6.2.1 Reconstruction using the cross-Wigner
transform . . . . . . · . . . . . . . . . . . 70
6.2.2 Reconstruction using the cross-ambiguity
function . . . . . . . . 71
6.3 The Wavepacket 'Ifansforms . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.3.1 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6.3.2 Properties of the wavepacket transform 73
7 The Feichtinger Algebra 77

7.1 Definition and First Properties . . . . . 77
7.1.1 Definition of S 0 (JRn) . . . . . . . 77
7.1.2 Analytical properties of S 0 (JRn) 82
7.1.3 The algebra property of S 0 (JRn) 85
7.2 The Dual Space Sb(JRn) . . . . . . . . 86
7.2.1 Description of Sb(JRn) . . . . . 86
7.2.2 The Gelfand triple (So, L 2 , Sb) 87
·8 The Cohen Class 89

8.1 Definition . 89
8.1.1 The marginal conditions . . . . . 92
8.1.2 Generalization of Moyal's identity 94
8.1.3 The operator calculus associated with Q 95
8.2 Two Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
8.2.1 The g~neralized Husimi distribution 97
8.2.2 The Born-Jordan transform . . . . 100
xviii Contents
9 Gaussians and Hermite Functions 103

9.1 Wigner Transform of Generalized Gaussians 103
9.1.1 Generalized Gaussian functions .. . 103
9.1.2 Explicit results . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
9.1.3 Cross-ambiguity function of a Gaussian 108
9.1.4 Hudson's theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
9.2 The Case of Hermite Functions . . . . . . . . . 109
9.2.1 Short review of the Hermite and Laguerre
functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
9.2.2 The Wigner transform of Hermite functions . 112
9.2.3 The cross-Wigner transform of Hermite
functions . . . . . . . 113
9.2.4 Flandrin's conjecture 116
10 Sub-Gaussian Estimates 119

10.1 Hardy's Uncertainty Principle 119
10.1.1 The one-dimensional case 119
10.1.2 Two lemmas . . . . . . . 120
10.1.3 The multidimensional Hardy uncertainty
principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
10.2 Sub-Gaussian Estimates for the Wigner Transform 123
10.2.1 Statement of the result 123
10.2.2 First proof . 124
10.2.3 Second proof . . . . . . 126
Part 11 Applications to Quantum Mechanics 129
11 Moyal Star Product and Twisted Convolution 131

11.1 The Moyal Product of Two Symbols . . 131
11.1.1 Definition of the Moyal product 131
11.1.2 Twisted convolution 134
11.2 Bopp Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
11.2.1 Bopp shifts . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
11.2.2 Definition and justification of Bopp
operators . . . . . . . . . . 139
11.2.3 The intertwining property . . . . . . 141
Contents xix
12 Probabilistic Interpretation of the Wigner Transform 143

1201 Introduction 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 143
1201.1 Back to Wigner 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 143
1201.2 Averaging observables and symbols 144
1202 The Strong Uncertainty Principle 0 146
120201 Variances and covariances 0 0 0 0 146
120202 The uncertainty principle 0 0 0 0 147
120203 The quantum covariance matrix 148
1203 The Notion of Weak Value 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 150
120301 Definition of weak values 0 0 0 0 150
120302 A complex phase space distribution 152
120303 Reconstruction using weak values 0 152
13 Mixed Quantum States and the Density Operator 155

1301 Trace Class Operators 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 155
1301.1 Definition and general properties 0 156
1301.2 The case of Weyl operators 0 0 0 0 157
1302 The Density Operator 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 159
130201 The Wigner transform of a mixed state 159
130202 A characterization of density operators 161
130203 Uncertainty principle for density operators 162
130204 Covariance matrix 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 165
14 The KLM Conditions and the Narcowich-Wigner Spectrum 169

1401 The Quantum Bochner Theorem 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 169
1401.1 Bochner's theorem 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 169
1401.2 The quantum case: the KLM conditions 0 171
1401.3 The quantum covariance matrix 175
1402 The Narcowich-Wigner Spectrum 0 0 0 : 0 179
140201 7]-Positive functions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 179
140202 The Narcowich-Wigner spectrum
of some states 0 0 0 0 0 0 180
15 Wigner Transform and Quantum Blobs 183

1501 Quantum Blobs and Phase Space 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 183
1501.1 Geometric definition of a quantum blob 184
1501.2 Quantum phase space 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 185
XX Contents
15.2 Quantum Blobs and the Wigner Transform 186

15.2.1 The basic example . . . . . . . . . . 186
15.2.2 Covariance ellipsoid and quantum blobs 187
15.3 From One Quantum Blob to Another . 189
15.3.1 The general case . . . . . . . . 190
15.3.2 Averaging over quantum blobs 192
Appendix A Sp(n) and Mp(n) 195.

A.1 The Symplectic Group . . . . . . . . . . 195
A.2 The Metaplectic Group . . . . . . . . .. 198
A.3 The Inhomogeneous Metaplectic Group 200
Appendix B The Symplectic Fourier Transfon~ 203
Appendix C Symplectic Diagonalization 207

C.1 Williamson's Th(C(orem .. 207
C.2 The Block-Diagonal Case 209
C.3 The Symplectic Case . . . 210
C.4 The Symplectic Spectrum 211
Appendix D Symplectic Capacities 215

D.1 Gromov's Non-squeezing Theorem 215
D.2 Symplectic Capacities . . . . . . . 216
D.3 Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
D.4 The Symplectic Capacity of an Ellipsoid 218
Bibliography 221
Index 227
Part I
General Mathematical
Framework
Chapter 1
Phase Space Translations

and Reflections
Summary 1. The Heisenberg-Weyl and Grossmann-Royer operators are

elementary unitary operators corresponding, respectively, to translations
and to reflections about a phase space point; these operators can be
viewed as exponentials of certain first-order differential operators. They are
related to the notion of quantization of a symbol ( = generalized classical
observable), and will allow a simple definition of the Wigner and ambiguity
transforms.
1.1. Some Notation
In this preliminary section, we introduce some basic notation as well as the

definition of the usual function spaces we will use.
1.1.1. The spaces JR~ and JR;
·We denote by JR~ the space of all vectors x = (x 1 , ... , Xn) interpreted as
"generalized positions" and by JR~ the space of all vectors p = (Pl, ... ,pn),
viewed as "generalized momenta"; of course the distinction between both
vectors spaces JR~ and JR~ is purely notational, and we will not need to give
it any deeper meaning (in mathematics, one would often view JR~ as the
algebraic dual of JR~, but this approach is not useful unless one works on
curved configurations spaces). The vector space JR~ is equipped with the
usual scalar product x · x' = x 1 x~ + · · ·+ Xn · x~; the scalar product p · p' on
JR; is defined in a similar way (we will occasionally drop the dots and write
3
4 The Wigner Transform
simply xx' and pp'). Most of the time we will not distinguish between JR~
and JR~ and write simply !Rn.
We will denote by JR;n
or simply JR 2 n the corresponding phase space,
viewed as the Cartesian product JR~ x JR~: it consists of all 2n vectors
z = (x,p).
1.1.2. The symplectic structure of phase space
The phase space JR 2 n is equipped with two natural structures: the scalar
product z · z' = x · x' + p · p' and the standard symplectic structure O", defined
by the standard symplectic form
O"(z, z') = p · x' - p' · x.
=
We will most of the time identify JR~ x JR~ with !Rn x !Rn JR 2 n. A remark:
we have been writing vectors x, p, z as line vectors because they are simpler
to do so typographically; in matrix calculations, these vectors should be
viewed as column vectors to avoid inconsistencies. For instance, introducing
the "standard symplectic matrix"
(0 and I the n x n zero and identity matrices), the symplectic form O" is
given by
O"(z,z') = Jz · z',
which means
O"(z, z') = z'T J z = (x' p') J (~)

in matrix notation.
The symplectic group Sp(n) is the group of all linear automorphisms
of JR 2n preserving the symplectic form: we have S E Sp(n) if and only if
O"(Sz, Sz') = O"(z, z') for all (z, z') E JR 2 n x JR 2 n.
We list here the essentials of the theory of the symplectic group; a more
thorough treatment is given in Appendix A. A 2n x 2n real matrix S is
called a symplectic matrix if we have O"(Sz, Sz') = O"(z, z') for all vectors
z, z' in the phase space JR;n. It is easy to check that S is symplectic if it
satisfies any of the two equivalent conditions
ST J S = J, S J ST = J,
Chapter 1. Phase Space Translations and Reflections 5
where sr is the transpose of S. Symplectic matrices form a group: first, if

S and S' are symplectic, then
(SS'f J(SS') = S'T(ST JS)S' = S'T JS' = J,
hence SS' is symplectic as well. Secondly, we have
since J- 1 = -J, we thus have s- 1J(ST)- 1 = J, hence s- 1 is symplectic.

The group of all 2n x 2n symplectic matrices is called the symplectic group,
and it is denoted by Sp(n) (one also commonly finds the notation Sp(2n)
and Sp(2n, JR) in the literature).
1.1.3. Some usual function spaces
We denote by S(!Rm) the complex vector space of Schwartz test functions:

'1j; E S (IRm) if 1p is infinitely differentiable, and if the functions xf3 8';1/! are
bounded for all multi-indices a= (a1, ... ,am) and f3 = (f31, ... ,f3m) in
Nm.) by definition ' xf3 = xf3'1 m and fY"
· · · xf3= X
= 8°"
XI
· · · aa.=.
Xm
The space S(JRm)
is a Frechet space for the seminorms
(1.1)
using the generalized Leibniz foi·mula, one shows that an equivalent system
of seminorms on S(!Rm) is given by
(1.2)
The dual space of S(!Rm) is denoted by S'(!Rm); its elements are called
tempered distributions on JRm. The distributional pairing between '1j; E
S'(IRm) and cp E S(!Rm) is denoted by ('1/J,c/J). When '1j; and c/J·are both in
S(IRm) then
(1/J, c/J) = r
}W/.n
'lj;(x)cp(x)dx.
We denote by L 2 (1Rm) the Hilbert space of all (classes of) square-

integrable complex functions on !Rm; it is equipped with the scalar product
When no confusion is likely to arise, we write simply (flg)p. The scalar

product (flg)p is related to the physicist's "bra-ket" product (Jig) by
conjugation:
The natural inclusions
are continuous and S(lRm) is dense in L 2 (JRm).
1.1.4. Fourier transform
The Fourier transform on lRm is denoted by F; we will use the fi.-dependent

definition
Ff(x) = ( - 1 )m/Zl i
e-,x·x
1
f(x')dx'.
27rfi ]Rn
It is an automorphism S(JRm) ------) S(JRm) which extends into a unitary

automorphism of L 2 (JRm) and whose inverse is given by
p-1 J(x) = ( 2~/i) m/2ln e'fix·x' J(x')dx'.

It also extends by duality into an automorphism of S'(JRnrn).
The Fourier transform satisfies the Parseval formula
1.2. The Heisenberg-Weyl and Grossmann-Royer

Operators
1.2.1. The displacement Hamiltonian
For each zo = (xopo) we define a Hamiltonian function Hzo by
Hz 0 (z) = o-(z, zo) = p · xo- Po · x.

The solutions of the associated Hamilton equations :i; = x 0 , jJ = p 0 are
x(t) = x(O) + txo, p(t) = p(O) + tpo,

which we write
z(t) = T(tzo)z(O),
where T(z 0 ) is the phase space translation operator in the direction z 0 .

Let us look at the Schri:idinger equation corresponding to the translation
Hamiltonian; it is
(1.3)
where Hzo is the operator obtained from Hzo by formally replacing p by

-ifi8x:
fizo = u(z, zo) = -inxo · Dx- Po · x. (1.4)
The solution of (1.3) can be formally written as
1/;(x, t) = T(zo, t)1f;o(x) = e-'ifu(z,zo)1j;0 (x). (1.5)
Using for instance the method of characteristics, one checks that this
solution is explicitly given by the formula
T(zo, t)1/;o(x) = e*(tpa·x-~t pa·xa)1/Jo(x- txa).
2
(1.6)
It is clear that T(z 0 , t) is a unitary operator on L 2 (1Rn): we have

(1.7)
1.2.2. The Heisenberg-Weyl operators
Consider now the time-one solutions of the Schri:idinger equation (1.3).
Definition 2. The operator T(zo) = T(z 0 , 1) is called the Heisenberg-

Weyl operator, or displacement operator. Its action on a function 1j; is
given by
(1.8)
T(zo) is also sometimes called "Weyl operator". We avoid this terminol-

ogy since it is maybe confusing since we will use the term "Weyl operator"
in a more general setting; see Chapter 4.
The Heisenberg-Weyl operators satisfy the commutation relation
(1.9)
and the addition relation
T(zo + zi) = e-ir,;u(zo,z 1 )T(zo)T(zl) (1.10)
for all zo, z 1 E m; 2 n.
The unitarity of the operator T(zo) on L 2 (1Rn) is obvious; we have
(T(zo)?/JIT(zo)4J)L2 = f
}Jlll.n
?/J(x- xo)4J(x- xa)dx = (?/JI4J)p.
Notice that
T(z0 )- 1 = T(zo)* = T( -zo).
The Heisenberg-Weyl operator can be extended to S'(JRn) by the formula
(1.11)
where qy E S(JRn). This formula gives the desired extension that follows
from the fact that if '1/J E S(JRn) then
(T(xo,po)'I/J, qy) = r e*(po·x-~po·xo)'I/J(x- Xo)4J(x)dx

}[?.n
= r efi(po·x+~po·xo)'ljJ(x)qy(x + xo)dx
}Jlll.n
= f '1f;(x)T( -xo,po)4J(x)dx
}Jlll.n
= ('1/J, T( -xo,Po)4J).
Now we have an important continuity property.
Proposition 3. (i) The mapping z0 1-----7 T(z 0 ) is strongly continuous on

S(lRn), i.e.
lim
z-----+zo
IIT(z)w- r(zo)'I/JII~ )(3 = o
for every '1/J E S(JRn ), and a, (3 E Nn, where 11 · 11~,(3 is the seminorm (1.2)
on S(lRn).
(ii) It is weakly *-continuous on S'(JRn), i.e.
lim (T(z)'ljJ, qy)

Z--*Zo
= (T(zo)'I/J, qy)
Proof. (i) We are following [39, §9.5.1] (also see [52]). It is sufficient to
assume that z 0 = 0; hence we have to prove that
Noting that by Leibniz' formula for the derivatives of a product we can

write
o;:x 13 T\z)?j; = L Ca(3,JX
0 1
p T(z)(o;:-,xf3-li'l/J), (1.12)
~<::_a,li<::_j3
where the Caf31 1i are complex constants and 1 :S a means IJ < aj for
j = 1, 2, ... , n, and we have
118'c:xf3 (T(z )'1/J -1/J) 11 oo :::: 11 (f(z) (o;:xf3'1/J) - (o;:x 13 '1/J) Iloo
+ L 8
Caf31 JIX P'IIIT(z)(8'::-'x13 -li'l/J)IIoo·
0<1<::.a
O<li<::_f3
Now, since 1 =/= 0, o=/= 0, it is clear that

lim lxlip'IIIT(z)(8'::- 1 xf3-li'l/J)IIoo = 0
z->0
so there remains to show that
This equality is clear if 'ljJ is compactly supported, i.e. 'ljJ E C0 (!Rn). The
equality in the general case then follows from the density of C0 (!Rn) in
S(!Rn). (ii) It suffices again to assume z0 = 0. Let 'ljJ E S'(!Rn) and cjJ E
S(!Rn). By formula (l.ll) we have
lim(T(x,p)'l/J,c/J) = lim('lj;,T(-x,p)c/J) = ('1/J,c/J),
z->0 z->0
and hence T(z) is weakly *-continuous on S'(!Rn) as claimed. 0
1.2.3. The Grossmann-Royer parity operators
The Grossmann-Royer operators are essentially phase space reflection

operators, and can be defined in terms of the Heisenberg~Weyl operators.
Definition 4. The Grossmann-Royer parity (or reflection) operator R(zo)

. is the operato:r;
defined by the formulas

R(zo) = T(zo)R(O)T(zo)- 1 (1.13)
and
R(O)'ljJ(x) = '1/J(-x). (1.14)
The following properties are straightforward consequences of the

definition.
Proposition 5. (i) The Orossmann-Royer operators are linear involutions

of S(~n) and of S' (~n); they are unitary on L 2 (~n) and the action of R( z 0 )
(with zo = (xo, p0 )) is explicitly given by the formula
R(zo)'l/J(x) = e#Po·(x-xo)'l/J(2xo- x) (1.15)·
for any function (or distribution) 'ljJ : ~n ----+<C.

(ii) The Grossmann-Royer operators satisfy the product formula
Proof. (i) The linearity of R(zo) is obvious. That R(zo) is an

involution, i.e.
follows from the sequence of equalities
R(zo)R(zo) = T(zo)R(O)T(zo)- 1 T(z 0 )R(O)T(z0 )- 1

= T(zo)R(O)R(O)T(zo)- 1
~ ~ 1
= T(zo)T(zo)-
= Id.
Setting x' = 2x 0 - x, we have
hence R(z0 ) is also unitary (this property also follows directly from the
unitarity of the Heisenberg-Weyl operators and of the parity operator
R(O)). Formula (1.15) follows from the definition (1.13) by a straightforward
calculation. (ii) We have, by formula (1.15),
R(zo)R(zl)'ljJ(x) = R(zo)[e#Pd 2 xo-x-x,)'l/J(2x1- x)]

= e-;;:Po·
2i (
x-xo ) eTtPl·
2i (
x-xl ) 7/J(2xl- (2xo- x))
= ei<P'ljJ(x- 2(xo- x1)),
where the phase is given by
= 2[(po- pl)x- poxo- P1X1 + 2plxo].

We also have by (1.15)
-
T(2(zo- zl)h)(x) = e"~' 1/J(x- 2(xo- xl)),
where ' is given by
'= 2((po- pl) · x- (Po- pl) · (xo- xl)).
A straightforward calculation shows that - ' = -2u(z0 , zl); therefore,

formula (1.16) follows. D
The action of the Grossmann~Royer operator on tempered distributions

can be defined by the formula
(R(zo)'l/J, ({;) = (1/;, R(zo)r/J) (1.17)
which coincides with the definition
when 1/J and rp are square integrable.
Example 6. Let 1/J = Oa (the Dirac measure centered at x =a). We have
i.e.
Since r/J(2xo- a) = (62xa~a, ({;), we thus have
R(zo)Oa = e~Po·(xa~a)o2 xo-a, (1.18)
which we can write, with a slight abuse of notation, and taking the parity
of r5 into account,
R(zo)o(x- a)= e~Po·(xa~a)o(2x 0 - x- a). (1.19)
Proposition 3 carries over without difficulty to Grossmann~Royer

operators.
Proposition 7. (i) The mapping z 0 f-----* T (zo) is strongly continuous on

the space S(JRn), i.e.
lim IIT(z)?/1- T(zo)?/111~ 13 = 0,

z-}zo '
for every 1/1 E S(JRn) and a, (3 E Nn, where 11 · 11~,/3 is the seminorm (1.2)
on S(JRn).
(ii) It is weakly *-continuous on the space S' (JRn).
Proof. It is an immediate consequence of the definition
using Proposition 3. 0
1.3. A Functional Relation Between T(zo) and R(z 0 )

Let us show a very important property which shows that the Heisenberg-
Weyl and Grossmann-Royer operators are related by the symplectic Fourier
transform
Fua(z) = au(z) = (-
27rfi
-)n {
1
}IT{2n
e-*u(z,z la(z')dz'
1
(see Appendix B for the properties of this variant of the usual Fourier
transform on JR 2 n).
Proposition 8. Let 1/J E S'(JRn). We have

R(zo)?/J(x) = Tn Fu[T(-)1/J(x)](-zo), (1.20)
where Fu is the symplectic Fourier transform.
Proof. Since R(zo) and Fu are continuous automorphisms of S'(JRn) it is

sufficient to assume that 1/J E S(JRn). Formula (1.20) follows from (1.15):
using the explicit expressions of O"(z0 , z') and T(z')'l/J(x), the right-hand side
of (1.20) is given by
A= (-1 -)n f
4Jrfi }IT{2n
e*u(zo,zllf(z')?/!(x)dz'
=
( )n1
_1_
4Jrfi [{2n
i
eK(Po·X I 1I
-p ·xo+P ·x-'Ip I I
·X
I
)1/!(X _ x')dz'
= 1 (1
-1 )
( 4JrJi
n
IT{n JR(n
eKP
i ·(x-xo-2x
I 1 )dp' en:Po·X
i. 1/J(x)dx'.
I ) I
We have, using the Fourier inversion formula,
hence, setting y = ~x',
A= 2-n r o(x- Xo- ~x')etPo·x'?j;(x)dx'

}JRn
= r
}JRn
J(y+xo-X)e'1fPD'Y?j;(x)dy
= eo/:Po·(x-xo)?j;( -X+ 2xo),

which proves (1.15). 0
We have seen that the Grossmann-Royer operators are involutions; more

generally, we have the following result which is a generalization of the fact
that the product of two reflections is a translation.
Proposition 9. The Grossmann-Royer operators satisfy the product

formula
R(zo)R(zl) = e-o/:a-(zo,zdf(2(zo- zl)) (1.21)
for all zo, z1 E IR 2n.
Proof. We have
R(zo)R(zl)?j;(x) = R(zo)[eo/:Pd 2 xa-x-x 1)7/;(2xl- x)]

= er.Po·
2i (
x-xo ) et.P1'
2i (
x-x1 ) 7/;(2x 1 _ (2xo _ x))
= etif>?j;(x- 2(x 0 - xl));
the phase <[> being given by
- <P' = -2()(z0 , zl) hence (1.21). 0
1.4. Quantization of Exponentials

Consider the elementary exponential functions e"kxa·x and efPo·P. Recalling
that the Heisenberg-Weyl operator
T/,( zo ) = e- ·i.(p·xo-pa·x)
h
( zo = (xo, Po)) is explicitly defined by
T(zo)'I/J(x) = ef(po·x-~po·xo)'I/J(x- Xo), (1.22)
we have, in particular,
(1.23)
Consider now the operator
M(zo) = e"k(X·xo+p·po)
sometimes called "Weyl's characteristic function" (it appears in the

definition of Weyl operators, as we will see in Chapter 4). We are using
here the notation x = (x1, ... , xn) and p = (p1, ... , Pn) where Xj and PJ
are the usual operators "multiplication by Xj" and -in8xj. The Heisenberg-
Weyl operator is related to M(zo) by the simple formula T( -J z0 ) = M(zo)
hence
(1.24)
and in particular
(1.25)
The result below is essential because it is the key to the quantization of

arbitrary observables. Roughly speaking, a "quantization" is a continuous
linear mapping
associating to every symbol (or "generalized observable") a defined on JR 2 n

a continuous operator A= Op(a) defined on some dense subspace of L 2 (1Rn)
(here S(JRn)), and satisfying some additional ad hoc conditions: for instance,
the symbol a = 1 should correspond the identity operator. We will have
more to say about quantization later in this book, but here is an interesting
gene1'al property.
Proposition 10. Let X(x 0 ) = e*xo·x and P(p 0 ) = ekPO'P. Let Op be an

arbi,trary quantization and set X 0 = Op(X(xo) and Po = Op(P(p 0 )). We
have
(1.26)
i.e.
Xo'I/J(x) = e*xo·x'lj;(x), Po'I/J(x) = 7/J(x + Po). (1.27)
The operators Xo and Po satisfy the relations
XoPo = e- 2Z1>Po·xo M(zo), P0 X 0 = e2i,Po·xo M(zo),
where M(zo) = ek(xo·x+po·P). Hence
~ ~ . . (PO · Xo)
[Xo, Po] = -2z sm ~ M(zo).
~
Proof. It is sufficient to consider the case n = 1. Writing x = x 1 and

p =PI and expanding the exponential eftxox in a Taylor series, we have, in
view of the continuity of Op,
and similarly
)k 1/J(x) = 7/J(x + Po).

00
P(po)'I/J(x) = L 1 ( ~Po
k! ' · ( -iliox)
k=O
Using the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff formula
eA+B = e-![A,B]eAeB = e![A,B]eBeA (1.28)
valid for all operators A and B commuting with [A, B], we have
X
~ R~ i.xo·x i.po·p~ -Apo·xo i.(xo·x+p 0 ·p~)
o o = e" e" = e 2 "' e" ,
PoXo = e*Po·Pe*xo·x = e 2 in.Po·xoe*(xo·x+po·p).
D
We mention that it is also common in the quantum mechanical literature
to use the parametrized families of operators
U(cr.) = eka·p and V(;J) = eif3·x
where cr. and {3 are in JRn. These are simply the operators Op(P(p 0 ) and
Op(X(xo)) defined by (1.26) with p0 and xo replaced with cr. and n{3. They
satisfy the commutation relations
U(cr.)V(f3) = eia·f3v({3)U(cr.).
Main Formulas in Chapter 1
Heisenberg-Weyl T(zo)'l/J(x) = e*(po·x-~po·xo)'lj;(x- xo)

Product formula for HW T(zo)T(zl) = efia(zo,z 1 )T(z1)T(zo)
Addition formula for HW T(zo + z1) = e-.fKa(zo,z lT(zo)T(zi)
1
Inversion of HW T(zo)- 1 = T(zo)* T( -zo)

=
Grossmann-Royer R(zo) = T(z 0 )R(O)T(z0 )- 1

Explicit formula for GR R(zo)'l/J(x) = e¥Po·(x-xol7j;(2x 0 - x)
Product formula for GR R(zo)R(zl) = e-¥,a(zo,z 1 )T(2(z0 - zl))
Involution formula for GR R(zo)R(zo) = Id
Symplectic FT R(zo)'l/J(x) = 2-nFa[T(·)7J;(x)](-zo)
Chapter 2
The Cross-Wigner Transform
Summary 11. The cross-Wigner transform W (1,b, if;) of the square inte-
grable functions 1,b and if; is defined in terms of the Grossmann-Royer
reflection operator; this definition is equivalent to the textbook defini-
tion but has certain conceptual and calculational advantages. The cross-
Wigner transform satisfies the Moyal identity and can be extended to
tempered distributions. The function W'l,b = W('l,b, 'l,b) is the usual Wigner
transform of 'lj!.
2.1. Definitions of the Cross-Wigner Transform

We begin by giving two definitions of the (cross- )Wigner transform. The
first is very concise, and makes use of the Grossmann-Royer operator; it
is, in a sense, more "natural" than Wigner's original definition, which we
derive thereafter.
2.1.1. First definition

Recall that the Grossmann-Royer operator is defined by
R(zo)'l,b(x) = e¥.-Po·(x-xo)'l,b(2xo- x)
for all'l,b E S(lR:n) (or, more generally 1,b E S'(JRn)).
Definition 12. Let 1,b and if; be in L 2 (1Rn). The complex function W('l,b, if;)
defined by
W('l,b,if;)(z) = (:n) n (R(z)'l,bic/J)L2 (2.1)
17
is called the cross-Wigner transform. The function W 1/J = W (1/J, 'ljJ) is called
the Wigner transform of 1/J:
W'ljJ(z) = (7r1n) n (R(z)1/JI1/J)p. (2.2)
In some texts W 1/J is called the "Wigner-Blokhintsev transform"; in

harmonic analysis (particularly time-frequency analysis) it is often called
the "Wigner-Ville" distribution. It is easy to see that the definition above
makes sense: using the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality we have, the operator
R(z) being unitary,
1
:::; ( 1rn
)2n IIR(z)1/JIIPII<PII£>
=
1
1rn
)2n II1/JIIL 2
II<PII£2;
(
hence the inequality
(2.3)
The definition (2.1) can be rewritten in terms of distribution brackets

as
W('ljJ,<jJ)(z) = (7r1n) n (R(z)1jJ,4}). (2.4)
2.1.2. Wigner's definition

In the literature, one finds most of the time the following definition: the
cross-Wigner transform of the pair (1/J, <P) of elements of L 2 (!R'.n) is given by
W('ljJ,<jJ)(z)= ( -
1
21rn
)n }JRnr e-kP'Y1jJ(x+~y)<t>(x-~y)dy
2 2
(2.5)
and the Wigner transform of 1/J E L 2 (!R'.n) is

ChapteT 2. The CToss- WigneT TransjoTrn 19
Let us show that both definitions coincide. We begin by noting that
and hence, setting y = 2(xo- x) this is
(R(zo)1/JI<P)L2 = Tn ~" e-Avo·Yw ( xo + ~y) <(; (xo- ~y )dy,

which is= (1rnt W(1j!, <f;)(z0 ), proving (2.6) in view of (2.1).
2.1.3. The Gabor transform and its variants
A mathematical object closely related to the Wigner function is the Gabor

transform used in signal theory and time-frequency analysis.
Definition 13. The Gabor transform (or windowed Fourier transform)

with window <(; E S(JRn) is defined by
Vq,1/J(z) = { e- 2 nip·x'w(x')<f;(x'- x)dx'. (2.7)

}JF.n
In the time-frequency literature, Vq,1/J is also called the "short-time
Fourier transform (STFT)".
We note the following rescaling result, whose (trivial) proof is left to
the reader as an exercise.
Lemma 14. For real A -=1- 0, set 1/J>.(x) = 1/!(Ax). We have
(2.8)
Taking A= V21Ji it is easy to see that the windowed Fourier-transform

. and the cross-Wigner transform are related by the formulae
(2.9)
where q;v(x) = <f;(-x); equivalently:
(2.10)
In harmonic analysis one usually takes n= 1/27f, and writes w instead

of p; this leads to the familiar formulas
(2.11)
and
(2.12)
We mention that in this context the squared modulus
is called the "spectrogram" .
2.1.4. Extension to tempered distributions

Recall (formula (2.4)) that the cross-Wigner transform of 1/J,c/J E S(JRn) is
defined by
where R(z) is the Grossmann-Royer reflection operator. It is clear that this

definition still makes sense if 'ljJ E S' (JRn) since the distributional bracket is
a pairing between S(JRn) and S'(JRn). Similarly, W('ljJ,cjJ) is also defined if
cjJ E S'(JRn) (this is obvious by using the conjugation property W(?jJ, cjy) =
W(cjJ,'ljJ)).
Example 15. Choose ?jJ = Oa( the Dirac measure concentrated at a E JRn).
In Example 6 (formula (1.18)) we have shown that
It follows that
W(oa, cjJ)(zo) = (
-1 )n er,:Po·(xo-alcjy(2x
2i
0 - a).
1fn
It is not immediately obvious from definition (2.4) (nor is it obvious
from the equivalent definition (2.5)) that W('ljJ, cjJ) can be defined when
both ?jJ and cjJ are tempered distributions. However, in the example above
Chapter 2. The Cross- Wigner Transform 21
if we formally replace if; with, say, ob, we get (which the usual abuse of
notation)
i.e.
(2.13)
This legerdemain can be rigorously justified [28, 52].
Proposition 16. The cross- Wigner transform W : ('lj;, if;) ~---+ W('lj;, if;)
extends into a sesquilinear mapping
(2.14)
defined by
(2.15)
where F 2 is the Fourier transform in the set of variables p and V is the

coordinate change operator on IRn defined by
Vf(x,y) = f (x + ~y,x- ~y). (2.16)
Proof. In view of definition (2.5) of the cross-Wigner transform, we have
W('lj;, if;)(x,p) = C~h) nln e-*p·y'lj; ( x + ~y) if; ( x- ~y )dy

= (2~h) nln e-*p·yV('lj; ® {f)(x, y)dy,
which is (2.15) when 'lj;, if; E S(!Rn). Now, the operator V obviously maps
· S' (IRn) ® S' (IRn) onto S' (IR 2 n) and Id ® F 2 is an automorphism of S' (IR 2 n);
the result follows. 0
We leave it to the reader as an exercise to verify that formula

(2.15) yields the same result (2.13) for W(oa, ob) as obtained by the
"heuristic" derivation above. In particular, the Wigner transform of the
Dirac measure o is
27rh-)n (o 0 1).
1
Wo = (- (2.17)
2.2. Properties of the Cross-Wigner Transform
We prove in this section the basic algebraic properties of the cross-Wigner

transform.
2.2.1. Elementary algebraic properties
We will see (Proposition 18) that (?j;, cp) ~------' W(?j;, cp) is a sesquilinear
mapping L 2 (JRn) x L 2 (JRn) ___, L 2 (JR 2n); the sesquilinearity means that
W(?jJ, c/J1 + c/J2) = W(?j;, cpl) + W(?j;, c/J2),

W( ?/J1 + ?/J2, cp) = W( ?/J1, cp) + W( ?/J2, cp ),
W(,\1/J, cp) = ,\W(?j;, cp),
W(?j;, ,\cp) = >:W(?j;, cp)
(,\ an arbitrary complex number); it follows that we have the so-called

polarization identity
1
Re W(?j;, cp) = '4 [W(?j; + cp)- W(?jJ- cfJ)]. (2.18)
The Wigner transform is not additive: we have in general W (?j; 1 + ?j; 2 ) -I-
W ?j; 1 +W ?j; 2 : this is due to the presence of cross-terms, which are responsible
for the occurrence of interferences.
Proposition 17. Let ?jJ = J:_l<_ ) _<m Aj?/Jj be a finite linear combination of
elements of L 2 (JRn). The Wigner transform W ?jJ is given by
m m m
(2.19)
j=l k=lf=l
k>E
Formula (2.19) is easily proven using an induction on the number m of

termp; we leave the details to the reader as an exercise.
Chapter 2. The Cross- Wigner Transform 23
The following conjugation property
(2.20)
immediately follows from the integral definition (2.5) of the cross-Wigner

transform:
= ( 1 )
2Jrh n r
}JRn e-TiP'Y
i
'lj; I (
X- -;;Y
1 ) cP ( X+ 2y
1 ') dy 1
= W(cjJ,'lj;)(z).
Hence, in particular the Wigner transform W 'lj; is always a real function. It

is however not in general positive. To see this it suffices to choose an odd
function 'lj; E S(JRn); then R(O)'lj; = -'lj; hence by (2.2)
W'lj;(O) =-(:h) n ll'lf;IIP < 0.

It follows, by continuity, that there exists c > 0 such that W'lj;(z) < 0
for lzl < c. In fact, a classical result of Hudson [59], extended to the
multidimensional case by So to and Claverie [77], tells us that W 'lj; is non-
negative if and only if 'lj; is a generalized Gaussian; we will come back to this
property in Chapter 9. (We also mention that Janssen [60] has extended
Hudson's result.)
The following tensor product properties hold when one splits the x and
p variables: if x = (x',x") E JRk x ]Rn-k, p = (p 1 ,p11 ) E JRk x ]Rn-k and
'lj;' E L 2 (JRk), 'lj;" E L 2(1Rn-k), then
W('lj;' ® 'lj;") = W''lj;' ® W"'lj;", (2.21)
where W' and W" are the cross-Wigner transforms on L 2(JRk) and
L 2(JRn-k), in that order. More generally, we have
W('lj;' ® 'lj;", c/J' ® c/J") = W'('lj;', c/J') ® W"('lj;", c/J"). (2.22)
The proofs of these equalities are elementary, using the first definition of
W('lj;, cfJ) and noting that the Grossmann-Royer operator splits as
11
R(z', z ) = R(z') ® R(z")
for z = (z',z").
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
“It seems like fate to me,” is what her heart whispers, and the very
thought causes the blood to mount over neck and face until Aleck’s
eyes are ravished with the fairest picture they ever beheld.
Love comes at no man’s bidding—it cannot be bought with the riches
of an Eastern potentate—spontaneously it springs from the heart as
the lightning leaps from cloud to cloud. So Aleck Craig, bachelor,
realizes, as he looks into the lovely face of Marda’s daughter, that
surely he has met his fate, for such a strange meeting could not
occur unless the cords of their destiny were bound together.
Dorothy says no more just at present. The wheel is rolling around,
the pinnacle passed, and they are descending. Soon they must part.
The professor has made several attempts at rising, but Craig shakes
him down as easily as he might a schoolboy. The Padarewski of the
Ferris wheel is in the hands of a master-voice and the flail-like arms
have long since ceased to cause the wildest music ever heard in one
of these cars—and truth to tell strange things have happened under
their shelter, from a wedding in mid air to the “siss-boom-ah!” of a
score of ascending college students, who deemed themselves
slighted by the superior attractions of the Midway, and were
determined to win notice.
As they near the bottom, Dorothy overcomes her reserve once more.
“You will think it strange that I should come to this place at night, and
with only a middle-aged lady for a companion, but I have a reason
for it, Mr. Craig. You know who I am now—the daughter of Samson
Cereal. We live on the North side. Some time perhaps you may call,
and I might feel it my duty to explain. God knows it is no idle whim
that brings me here, but a sacred purpose.”
Her voice is low, her manner earnest, almost eloquent. The
Canadian is deeply moved—when does a beautiful woman with her
soul in her eyes fail to arouse enthusiasm?
“I can well believe that, Miss Dorothy, from the few facts I have
learned,” he says, and although her eyebrows are arched in surprise,
she makes no remark.
The wheel has ceased to revolve. Craig arises, and allows the
professor to regain his feet.
“Are we down?” ejaculates that pious fraud in anxious tones, and
upon his wife reassuring him that all is well, he says solemnly,
“Thank Heaven for that, and all mercies.”
Dorothy manages to brush close to the Canadian, and takes
occasion to say:
“To-morrow night we receive. Will you come?”
He looks straight in her eyes as he replies:
“If I am in the flesh, I will.”
Then as she extends her hand, after they have left the wheel, he
takes it reverently in his.
“Good night, Mr. Craig.”
He watched the two veiled ladies vanish in the midst of the throng
that gathers at this point, where Persian and Turkish theaters, with
their noisy mouthpieces in front, vie with the Chinese and Algerian
shows further on.
The murmur of her soft voice, the look of her lovely eyes, remain
with him like a dream, and to himself this stout-hearted Canadian is
saying:
“Hard hit at last, my boy. No more will the old joys allure you. In the
past, peace, contentment, and all the humors of a jolly
bachelorhood. To come, the fierce longing, the uneasy rest, the
yearning after what may prove to be the unattainable. Hang it! I’ve
laughed at others, and now they have revenge. Well, would you
change it all—cross out the experience of to-night?”
“Not for worlds, my boy, and you know it!” says a voice in his ear,
and turning, he finds the speaker, as he supposes, is Wycherley, the
careless, good-natured Bohemian—half painter, half actor, and
whole vagabond.
“Come, I didn’t suppose there were eavesdroppers around,” mutters
Craig, confused.
“Well, you uttered that last sentence a trifle louder than you intended,
and I answered it for you. That’s all. No offense meant, I assure you.
Come, walk arm and arm with me. I feel the eyes of Aroun Scutari
upon me, and want to arrange my plans before granting him an
interview.”
“Certainly, if it will help you.”
“Are you very angry with me, Aleck?”
“Angry? What for?”
“For the miserable business I was engaged in. I honestly assure you
my motives were really quite philanthropical. At the end you know I
realized what a foolish thing I had done. You know me well enough,
old fellow, to understand that I’m no villain, fool though I may be at
times.”
His repentance is sincere, and Aleck, like the good-hearted fellow he
is, claps him on the shoulder.
“I hold no grudge against you, my boy. On the contrary this ridiculous
escapade on the part of the Turk and yourself has resulted very
pleasantly to a fellow of my size. It enabled me to meet one for
whom I have been looking six months and more.”
“When you mentioned her name I knew there was something in the
wind. And believe me, Aleck, you did old Montreal proud. I wish the
Toque Bleue snowshoe boys had been here to see their bold
comrade climb the Ferris wheel.”
At this Craig laughs merrily.
“They might have believed me a little daft, for surely such a Quixotic
venture could have but one meaning—that I had thrown my senses
to the winds, and imbibed too much Chicago champagne.”
“Here comes the Turk straight at me, as if resolved to wait no longer.
Mark his dark face. He saw you come out of that car. The deal is up,
and I must defy his royal nibs.”
Aroun Scutari has barred their path; one hand he reaches out and
touches Wycherley.
“You deceived me, traitor!” he says, with a peculiar accent on the
words, such as a foreigner usually gives, no matter how thoroughly
at home he may be with the English language.
“My dear fellow, you are mistaken; I simply deceived myself. When
the critical moment came my nerve failed me. That mug of French
cider should have been something stronger. It is all right, anyway;
this gentleman saved the girls, so what’s the odds?”
His coolness is remarkable. Really Wycherley must have haunted
the Eskimo village a good deal of late, to show so little concern with
the grave affairs of life.
“It is all wrong. By the beard of the Prophet, I will look to you! Where
is the money with which I buy your soul?” demands the Turk, working
his hands as though eager to get them fastened upon the throat of
the Christian dog of an unbeliever.
“What you paid me I used in the regular routine of my work. By
proxy, I saved the girl. There is now one hundred dollars due. Will
you pony up?” holding out his hand, at which the furious Moslem
glares.
“I do not understand. You make sport with me, a pasha. If it were
Turkey I would have your head to pay!” he snarls.
“Then I am glad it is not Turkey. You thought you had me molded to
your liking, but the worm has turned. We are quits, Scutari. Au
revoir,” and gayly waving his hand, the debonnair Swiveller of the
Midway takes Aleck’s arm and saunters on, leaving the gentleman
from the Bosphorus standing there, his brown face convulsed with
the fury that rends his soul, as he realizes that his amazing scheme
has thus far proved a lamentable failure.
CHAPTER VI.
THE ODDITIES OF CAIRO STREET.
Upon the narrow streets of Stamboul a Turkish pasha may appear a
very exalted personage, and command respect—upon the Midway
Plaisance of the great Chicago World’s Fair he is quite another
character, and when he speaks his little piece in English, he may be
placed on a par with the itinerant coffee vender, or the dark-skinned
doctor who sells the queer muffin bread of the Egyptians in the
corner of Cairo Street.
“Let the heathen rage and imagine a vain thing,” laughs Wycherley,
as he glances back over his shoulder to see if Scutari is still shaking
a fist after them. His everlasting good humor is proof against scenes
of this sort—it protects him like a coat of mail.
What he sees causes him a slight spasm of uneasiness. The pasha
still stands there in front of the theater where the Parisian troupe of
dancers holds forth, but he is no longer alone, a man with a red fez
upon his head is at his side, and to this individual the Turk talks in a
voluble manner, pointing in the direction our two acquaintances have
gone, as though he would direct the attention of the other to them.
Craig has his mind full of the recent surprising adventure. Even the
lively attractions around him do not serve to divert his thoughts from
Dorothy Cereal and her unknown mission. Why does she haunt the
Midway? He might imagine many things that perhaps would not be
complimentary to the speculator’s daughter, but when he remembers
her face he is ready to stake his life that no guile rests there.
Besides, he has not forgotten what she said so earnestly to him, as if
realizing that it must shock his sense of propriety to discover a young
lady of Chicago’s Four Hundred wandering, with only a middle-aged
duenna, about the Plaisance, haunting its strange scenes so
assiduously. Why, he can even remember her exact words, and the
earnest expression of her lovely face will always haunt him, as she
said:
“God knows it is no idle whim that brings me here, but a sacred
purpose.”
Those were her words—he cannot conceive what their meaning may
be, but is ready to believe in Dorothy.
He has not forgotten the remarkable story which Wycherley poured
into his ears as they climbed higher and higher in the great Ferris
wheel, and it adds to the piquancy of the occasion to remember how
Samson Cereal, the grim old wheat operator, the millionaire, won his
bride over in the land of the Golden Horn, and that Dorothy is the
daughter of the lovely Georgian who had captivated the pasha.
This brings matters to a certain focus. He is led to believe that the
presence of Scutari has something to do with Dorothy’s mission.
Does she haunt the Midway in order to learn from this dark-brown
Turkish dealer in precious stones, the seeming merchant of the gay
bazaar, the secret of her mother? At the thought Aleck feels a
shudder pass through him, an involuntary shudder, such as would
rack one’s frame upon suddenly discovering an innocent child
fondling a deadly rattlesnake.
To himself he is muttering:
“Thank God, I have been allowed to enter this singular game—that
Heaven may mean me to be the one who will tear down this infernal
spider web in the Midway; the web in which this keen old Turk sits
and watches for his fair prey; the web that has been spun with the
sole purpose of snaring the daughter of the lovely girl old Samson
once snatched from his grasp.”
While thus pondering upon the singular train of events that have
already taken place, and speculating as to what the near future may
hold in store for him, Aleck feels his companion’s hand on his arm.
“Come, you must arouse yourself, my boy; there I’ve been chattering
away like a monkey for five minutes, and you walk along like a man
in a dream. You need a jolly laugh, and here’s the doctor to bring it
about.”
Looking up Aleck sees the legend:
A Street in Cairo.
He has been there before, several times in fact, and even the
recollection of its boisterous associations causes a smile to cross his
face.
“Oh, I’m with you, Wycherley, on condition—ahem—that you allow
me to pay the fee.”
“Pay nothing. I tell you, my dear fellow, I’ve made it the rule of my life
to deadhead everywhere. There’s nothing I haven’t seen in this
street of nations, the great Midway, and all it cost me was a quarter I
paid to watch a Hindoo juggler do some very clever tricks, and I’m
laying my plans to turn the tables on him. Watch me hoodoo this
door-keeper now.”
With which he steps up. The dark-skinned boy holds out his hand.
Then the vagabond actor proceeds to make a variety of gestures,
such as a deaf and dumb wretch, unacquainted with the mute
alphabet of his fellows, might undertake. Aleck is utterly in the dark
as to their meaning, or whether they have any, but is amazed to see
their influence on the boy. At first he looks disgusted, then grins, and
finally throws up his hands in token of surrender.
“Come,” says Wycherley, and they enter.
“I say, what in the deuce does all that mean?” demands the mystified
Canadian.
“Oh, my boy! I dare not explain. It is soul language. I have been
initiated into the Order of Nomads. I’ve eaten salt with them. That is
as far as I can go. There are the camels. Now to chase the blue
devils away. Nobody can stand here five minutes and fail to laugh.”
And Wycherley is quite right. The uncouth figures of the hump-
backed animals, so strange to Western eyes, their meek, docile
aspect, the ridiculous manner of their rising and squatting are
enough in themselves to arouse interest. Add to this the alarmed
shrieks of the daring women who brave the merriment of the crowd
and venture to take a ride, the clattering of donkeys with pilgrims
astride of them whose legs almost touch the ground, the shouting of
donkey boys and camel drivers, and one can have a faint idea of the
sounds of old Cairo Street.
Several times during the day and evening the wedding procession
takes place; an unique affair, headed by the stout major-domo, with
whirling sword and fierce expression, who is followed by the
strangest rabble American eyes ever gazed upon, from the
palanquin to the dancing girls in the rear, their faces half concealed
behind the yashmak.
Looking down the singular street from a second story balcony, or an
upper chamber of the Mohammedan mosque, as this procession
approaches, one could easily imagine himself in the old native
quarter of Cairo on the Nile. Aleck speedily forgets his troublesome
thoughts in laughing at the ridiculous sights presented on all sides.
Cairo Street was better than a doctor. No one came out regretting
having entered. There you saw only the jolly side of life, for everyone
laughed and joked. While walking along it was nothing to have a
camel poke his nose over one’s shoulder, or be brushed aside by a
donkey boy on the run, shouting, “Look out for Mary Anderson!” or
“Make way for Lily Langtry!”
“Will you have your fortune told?” asks Wycherley, as, mounting the
steps of the mosque, they look through a grated window into a dimly
lighted room where a black Nubian, with a rather repulsive face,
dressed after the manner of his race, squats upon a rug and
manipulates some sand upon the floor, spreading it out deftly, tracing
certain mystic symbols, and finally in rapid Arabic delivering his
prophecy to the smiling interpreter who translates it in the ear of the
mulcted victim, after which “Next,” and another hard-earned
American quarter has started to roll toward the Nile. This fakir
appears to do a flourishing business—Americans have come to the
Fair to be taken in, and anything connected with the Orient has a
peculiar charm for their Western eyes.
At the question Craig laughs:
“What! have you a pull with this wonderful seer in the turban, this
ebony prophet from the land of the lotus?”
“Well, I’ve been there. If I’d had the capital I might have been his
manager. That’s the way it goes—an opportunity of making myself
solid for life lost because I lacked a few dollars,” and Wycherley
chuckles even while he speaks in such a dismal strain.
“This fellow isn’t the only fortune teller at the Fair,” the Canadian
says.
“By no means. I know of several others right here in the street of
Cairo.”
“Yes; I remember one at the lower end—a woman, I believe. I have
seen no other.”
“Walk with me. There is one here—they call her the Veiled Fortune
Teller of Cairo Street. I don’t know that her predictions are any
nearer the truth than the black’s, but somehow the air of mystery
surrounding her excites a certain amount of curiosity.”
“I would like to see her. I thought I had exhausted the sights of this
street, from the odd barber shop where they lay one down on a
bench to shave him, to the shoe store where their stock in trade is
yellow and red baboushas or slippers. If there is a veiled mystery
here I must see her. You said a woman?”
“Yes, and if one can judge of the faint glimpses seen through the
flimsy veil, and by the shapely figure, a beautiful woman, too. Let’s
see the time—yes, this is her last hour for receiving to-day. Come
along, Aleck, my boy.”
The jovial vagabond almost drags him along, and presently they
bring up in front of a stuccoed building. Over a doorway is a sign, so
small Aleck does not wonder he missed it, bearing this scroll:
Saidee—the Veiled Fortune Teller.

25 cents.
An Arab boy holds forth, fez and all.

“One half-duro—a quarter each,” he insists, and Aleck is about to
comply when the eccentric actor steps in front and proceeds to
mesmerize the youth.
“Ten cents,” he mutters feebly, but Claude only increases his
mysterious passes, and at length the Arab youth throws up the
sponge.
“Great is Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet. Enter taleb, I beg,” he
says hastily, as if desirous of being rid of an incubus.
So they pass in, Aleck Craig never dreaming what an influence this
accidental discovery of a new curiosity will have upon his future. A
dozen persons are in the room, and one by one they interview the
veiled woman on the little stage, who looks into the palm and reads
both the past and the future.
“Look!” says Wycherley quickly; “don’t you recognize the man seated
there?”
“Jove! it’s the pasha himself. Do you suppose our being here has
anything to do with his presence?”
“Not at all. He was here when we came, and I know the man well
enough to understand that he has some motive for his visit.”
“Then let’s watch the game.”
“Nothing pleases me better. Notice the fortune teller, Aleck; did I
speak correctly?”
“As near as I can say—yes, I should judge that she is a fine looking
woman, and, like the most of her sex, a coquette.”
“Oh, why not say all?” smiles Wycherley, giving him a sly dig in the
ribs.
“You know there are exceptions to every rule, my dear boy. Since we
are under the enchantment of this unknown Circe, let us act as
though we believed in the rubbish and have our fortunes told.”
“Oh, I’ve done that before. She predicted that I would win much gold,
but that it could never stick to my fingers. Think of that. There’s the
cool million to-morrow—perhaps she means that—and I reckon
she’s right about it not sticking, for how can a man hold that which he
hath not.”
“There goes the pasha up.”
“Now keep your eyes open.”
“She does not seem to have noticed him before. See how she starts
and draws back as though a sudden fear had penetrated her heart.”
“Right you are. I believe she has recognized him.”
“And he?”
“His actions indicate that on his part he entertains a suspicion, which
he is bound to verify. Now he speaks to her. I would that I knew
Arabic, that I might translate what he says. My early education was
somewhat neglected in that respect. She replies in a low tone—I
swear her voice trembles with fear. Why should she dread this man?
Tell me that.”
“I cannot say. Wait, and we may learn something that will give us an
insight. I am deeply interested in all he does.”
“Of course,” says Wycherley, chuckling; “because you are concerned
about Dorothy’s fortunes. Now the Turk holds out his hand. She
takes it. See his bold eyes, they are glued upon her face. The gauzy
veil tantalizes Aroun Scutari. I’ve a notion he has come here to-night
to settle some doubt, some uncertainty, that has preyed upon him for
a long time, and he’ll do it in his own impulsive autocratic way.
There! What did I say, Aleck?”
There is a sudden movement on the part of the pasha, a feminine
shriek, and Aroun Scutari stands there with the gauzy veil in his
hand, stands there glaring upon the beautiful face his rude action
has unveiled. Immediately the lights are extinguished, and all is
darkness. Confusion follows.
“Come, let us get out of this!” cries vagabond Claude, and Aleck
Craig allows himself to be led into the street of Cairo.
He is silent and has suffered a terrible shock, for when that veil was
torn away his astounded gaze fell upon a face that has haunted his
dreams these six months, and he could swear he looked upon the
features of Dorothy!
CHAPTER VII.
CRAIG BUILDS A THEORY.
The idea seems too preposterous to be entertained for a moment,
and yet he must give some credence to what his eyes have seen.
Besides, the strange presence of Dorothy in the Midway is as yet
unexplained, though she has, particularly, promised to enlighten him
on the following evening, if he will call.
Craig is sorely puzzled. Many things flash into his mind and confuse
him. Perhaps, after all, he might have been mistaken. Why has not
Wycherley made some comment upon the matter? So the Bachelor
of the Midway, as the actor has, in a spirit of humor, dubbed his
athletic companion, when learning how the Canadian has
persistently haunted the region of world’s fakes and curiosities, turns
now to that party.
“That was something not down on the bills, I’m thinking, Claude,” he
remarks.
“I’m puzzling my head over the cause of it all. The pasha was in
deadly earnest. Don’t imagine that it was a set-up game to clear the
room. What did he expect to see?”
“Probably he suspected that someone he knew was playing a joke
on him,” says Aleck quietly.
“Humph! he was a bear then,” grunts the other.
“By the way, my dear boy, did she remind you of—well, anyone you
had seen before?”
“That’s what makes me mad. A chump in the seat in front got his
beastly head between me and the stage, so that I couldn’t see her
face. You saw me knock his hat down over his ears. Well, just then
the lights went out and I missed the opportunity of solving the riddle
of the mysterious veiled prophetess of Cairo Street.”
It is Aleck’s turn to grunt now.
“Was she very beautiful, Craig?”
“Yes, strikingly so. I wish you had seen her. Never mind, did the
pasha come out?”
“Rather! he was ahead of us. Perhaps he feared the consequences
of his bold act, for these people of the Orient are quick to use knife
or yataghan. As he passed I heard him laugh, and, as it is seldom
these Turks do that, I can guess he was well pleased over what he
had done, and that he recognized the face from which he snatched
the veil.”
If ever a sorely puzzled man walked up or down that singular narrow
street, our bachelor is the individual. He cudgels his brains for a
solution to the enigma and finds it not.
“I don’t see how I can wait until to-morrow night to solve the
problem,” he mutters.
“What’s that?” demands Wycherley quickly. “Is it so bad as to keep
you from sleeping? Aleck, my poor fellow, I pity you.”
“Nonsense! I’m bothering my head over quite another thing. In fact,
I’ve a nut to crack that threatens to do me up. Pardon, old boy, but
I’ve been thinking of the story you told me.”
“You mean about old Samson; of course you are deeply interested
now—that’s natural. To the best of my belief he’s a millionaire and
better—lives in grand style on the lake shore. I walked past the
house several times, because, you see, I wanted to understand how
the land lay, if I was to be a prospective son-in-law—ha, ha. All
dreams knocked in the head now, I assure you, dear boy. I shall feel
at liberty to throw a kiss to the pretty girl in the cigar stand. My bonds
are gone, the shackles loosened, and Claude Wycherley is again a
free man.”
An odd genius this, assuredly. Aleck can never edge a word in so
long as his flow of breath lasts, so he usually holds his peace until
the actor pauses.
“I want to ask you a few questions,” he says.
“A thousand, if you wish. I would do anything for you, Aleck. Again
you have saved my life.”
“How?” demands the Canadian.
“Only for you I should perhaps have been fool enough to have
attempted that climb on the wheel. I am in poor condition to-night,
and ten to one I would have lost my grit and my grip. Then they’d
have swept me up below, and poor Wycherley would have been a
bursted bubble, a back number. So I feel awfully grateful to you. Ask
me any favor and I’ll put myself out to do it—anything but giving you
a tip on the market. That’s a dead secret yet—my plans are not quite
perfected. If I win that million now——”
“Hang the million! What I want to know concerns that part of your
story in which the Chicagoan brought his Georgian wife—stolen from
the Turkish pasha—to this place.”
“All right. What I know is at your service. As I learned it from his royal
nibs, Scutari, of course I’m in the dark wherever he is.”
“I realize that,” returns Aleck slowly; “but perhaps I may unearth
some fact that will help me to solve this question. You told me the
lovely Marda died a year or so after reaching Chicago.”
“So Scutari said and swore to.”
“Yet the daughter knows nothing concerning her mother. Why should
Samson Cereal desire to keep the facts from her if there was nothing
to conceal?”
“Look here, you’re probing this thing like a lawyer. You go beyond
me. I deal in facts, and never worry about the reasons back of them.
What are you getting at—didn’t Marda die?”
“Ah! that is what I am unable to say. It is a secret that perhaps only
Samson Cereal could explain. As to myself, without any positive
proof to back my theory up, I have a notion that all these years the
old manipulator of wheat has deceived his daughter.”
“Confusion! I say, you strike hard, Cannuck.”
“That Marda is not dead.”
“Bless me! what puts such a strange notion into your head, my dear
fellow?”
“I believe I have seen her.”
Craig smokes his cigar while delivering these sledge-hammer blows.
He really enjoys the astonishment of his companion, for generally
Wycherley is proof against such assault.
“The plot thickens. It was a great hour when I ran across you, Aleck
Craig. When do you think you saw Samson’s Georgian wife, and
where?”
“In this street of Cairo, to-night. Plainly, Claude, that was why I was
so anxious to learn if you had seen the face of the fortune teller.”
At this the nomad assumes an attitude that is a revelation
concerning his ability as an actor. Strange that the world failed to
properly appreciate him.
“Great Scott! you don’t mean it—and the pasha—— Why, I’m
already half convinced. He suspected—but see here, how could it be
that Marda living would appear dead all these years? Incredible!”
“I admit it seems so, and yet perhaps if we knew what Samson
Cereal knows, deep down in his heart, we might find it easier to
believe. It is a matter of speculation with me, but if you stop and think
for a moment you can understand how difficult it would be for
happiness to follow such a marriage—he, a progressive American
with all the ideas we claim, she born and reared under the blighting
influence of Eastern customs. I can readily imagine a quarrel arising
and she fleeing back to the sunny land of her birth.”
“What! leaving her child behind?”
“Quite likely. This is theory. When I learn some facts we can see how
near I was to being right.”
“Well, continue the theory: why does she come to the land of ice
again—the country from which she fled years and years ago?”
Aleck shrugs his shoulders.
“Ask me something easy. Put the question to one of the Sandwich
Islanders or a Hottentot. Perhaps she has been drawn by the mother
love to see her child again, for that affection is not confined to any
class. The lioness will fight for her whelps. Putting speculation aside,
Claude, I am ready to swear that the face of this veiled prophetess
was very like that of Dorothy. I was struck dumb by the resemblance.
At first I had a positive notion it was she. Then I gradually realized
that such a thing was too improbable, and while we walked along my
mind evolved the theory which I have given you.”
“Would that have any bearing on the presence of Dorothy here?”
asks Wycherley, stopping to light his pipe at the gas jet of a
tobacconist, and nodding familiarly to the Greek in charge.
“It might. She told me her mission was a sacred one, and what could
be more in keeping with such a word than the search of a child for
her mother? However, we may be meddling with what does not
concern us, though fortune has apparently decreed that I should be
interested in the fortunes of Dorothy Cereal, judging from our several
peculiar meetings. Have you any other plans for to-night, comrade?”
“I never leave here until closing time. Can’t explain it, but there’s a
charm about this same old Midway that is life to me. You know my
nature, Craig, and it just chimes with such a kaleidoscopic scene as
this, color, music, and laughter—not a tear or a frown. Heigho! when
the curtain rings down and the bugle sounds 'lights out,’ I shall have
to seek consolation in making love to that black-eyed Spanish cigar
girl, or emigrate with all these Turks, Arabs, and Moors.”
CHAPTER VIII.
A BACHELOR PROTECTORATE.
Craig has himself seen enough of the daily life along the Midway to
feel some sympathy for his companion, whose doleful refrain has at
least the merit of sincerity.
The popularity of the Midway was something of a joke during the life
of the Fair, but never questioned. It is since the close of the great
Exposition that the people of this country have gradually awakened
to the fact that as a congress of nations, this Plaisance was the most
successful thing ever planned and executed.
Everyone has pleasant memories of hours spent in strolling up and
down, of queer sights witnessed, and, perhaps, singular adventures
in connection with these people from the four quarters of the earth.
In every prominent city of the land these memories have been kept
alive by a series of entertainments, representing the Midway in the
height of its glory; breezy items can be found in the papers,
describing the wonders of the world’s highway, and many snatches
of glowing rhetoric attest to the pleasure derived by the writer in the
scenes on the Plaisance. In defense of Wycherley, who haunted
these scenes until he loved them as a Parisian is devoted to his city,
it may not be out of place to reproduce one of these items which
appeared recently in a prominent Western paper:
“It was not until about July 1 that the denizens of the merry Midway
got their houses and shops in order, and settled down to business.
They easily made up for lost time, however, and during the four
bright happy months that followed, the famous street was far and
away the principal popular attraction of the Fair. Those who went to
spend the whole day at the Exposition, equipped with lunch, camp
chair, and guidebook, usually turned up in the Plaisance about every
two hours. Others who made briefer visits to the park either began or
ended them in the same attractive quarter. School teachers, who
made out their programme for the educational features in the Liberal
Arts building, generally landed in Cairo Street. Students of sculpture
who went with the best intentions of studying the marble models in
the Art Palace, ended by studying living models in the Moorish
Palace. Ministers who hoped to prepare themselves for missionary
work, were easily persuaded that they would be best equipped by
looking over the Dahomeyans and South Sea Islanders. And as to
young America—well, the day for him was not done till he had
tossed off half a dozen or more bumpers of beer in Old Vienna.
“All this is now a memory. The places that knew these merry parties
shall know them no more forever. The Samoan now sits serenely
under his island palm; the Bedouin is again astride his steed, and
with shaded eyes looks off across the desert; the Egyptian 'neath the
shadow of the mighty pyramids, recounts the marvels of his half year
in the New World; and the sad-eyed Cingalese woman tells her
sisters in 'the gorgeous East’ about the wondrous West; while the
American, whose energy and genius reared it all, now sees those
sights through a darkened glass, and faintly hears the once familiar
sounds, muffled and indistinct, as of a distant troop of boys at play.
He goes plodding on in paths of busy commerce, farther and farther
along, till time and distance intervene, and Midway sights grow
dimmer still, and Midway sounds sink to a whisper.”
These then are the feelings that cause the Thespian such sorrow. He
hates to think that before snow flies this gay scene will have
vanished as a dream, never to be seen again.
“Cheer up, my dear fellow,” says Aleck, “there will be other fairs as
great as this.”
“But never again a Midway. However, let us throw dull care to the
winds. It ill becomes us to mourn, we who are butterflies of the hour.
What would you now, my lord?”
Wycherley smiles again—the passing of his grief has been very
rapid—for his nature is buoyant.
“I have no plans. We can move around until it is time to go. I am
impressing this scene on my mind so that at any future day I may
reproduce it by simply closing my eyes. When before now, on
American soil, could you see such groups as that sauntering along?”
nodding in the direction of a squad of Algerians and Moors walking
past, clad in the turban and caftan, burnoose and colored robes of
their class, with the inevitable heavy slippers on their feet.
Close behind come a trio of Celestials chattering like parrots, while in
sight at the same time are one or more natives of India, Dahomey,
and Lapland, representing the antipodes. It is the bringing together
of people who live at the frozen north, and those from the burning
equator; the exposition of their home life, their peculiar habits, their
war customs, and marriage ceremonies, that lends such a charm to
a gathering like this. Contrast it by a visit to the Liberal Arts building
and see what civilization does for the human family, what wonderful
treasures are within the grasp of everyone who lives to-day in an
enlightened community.
Just as the squad of Moors and Algerians move past in their
sauntering way, Wycherley is heard to utter an exclamation.
“Who would have believed it?” he says.
“What now?” asks Aleck, wondering if his companion is dreaming of
the fortune he is to win or lose on the morrow.
“She is a flirt, I do believe,” continues the actor.
“Oh, it’s the dark-eyed Spanish senorita who worries the boy. Never
mind; remember there’s as good fish in the sea as ever were
caught.”
“You’re a Job’s comforter, Aleck. Under the circumstances,
physician, heal thyself,” retorts the other.

Ebook The Wigner Transform 1St Edition Maurice de Gosson Online PDF All Chapter

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Ebook The Wigner Transform 1St Edition Maurice de Gosson Online PDF All Chapter

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ebook The Wigner Transform 1St Edition Maurice de Gosson Online PDF All Chapter

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Wigner Transform 1st Edition

Hormone Power Transform Your Diet Transform Your Life

The Art of Multiprocessor Programming 2nd Edition

The Ultimate Wilderness Survival Guide For Kids Maurice

The Pianist s Dictionary Second Edition Maurice Hinson

The Piano in Chamber Ensemble Third Edition Maurice

Advanced Geodynamics The Fourier Transform Method 1st

Neptune, the 12th house, and Pisces - 2nd Edition: The

The Boys of St Columb s The Education of a New Ireland

The Wigner Transform

Periods and Special Functions in Transcendence

Conformal Maps and Geometry

-- ·-· < -~· -· ···-

'~ World Scientific

World Scientific Publishing Europe Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Copyright © 2017 by World Scientific Publishing Europe Ltd.

Desk Editors: V. Vishnu Mohan/Mary Simpson

Typeset by Stallion Press

and structured following the old-fashioned but efficient way Definition -

so that the Wigner transform W'lj; can be used as a mock probability

Wigner's original definition. We list and prove several important properties,

Chapter 8: The Wigner transform was introduced as a substitute for

Chapter 14: We develop the theory of density operators initiated in

Part I General Mathematical Framework 1

1 Phase Space Translations and Reflections 3

2 The Cross-Wigner Transform 17

3 The Cross-Ambiguity Function 31

5.1.3 Symplectic covariance of Weyl operators 58

6 The Moyal Identity 67

7 The Feichtinger Algebra 77

·8 The Cohen Class 89

9 Gaussians and Hermite Functions 103

10 Sub-Gaussian Estimates 119

Part 11 Applications to Quantum Mechanics 129

11 Moyal Star Product and Twisted Convolution 131

12 Probabilistic Interpretation of the Wigner Transform 143

13 Mixed Quantum States and the Density Operator 155

14 The KLM Conditions and the Narcowich-Wigner Spectrum 169

15 Wigner Transform and Quantum Blobs 183

15.2 Quantum Blobs and the Wigner Transform 186

Appendix A Sp(n) and Mp(n) 195.

Appendix B The Symplectic Fourier Transfon~ 203

Appendix C Symplectic Diagonalization 207

Appendix D Symplectic Capacities 215

Phase Space Translations

Summary 1. The Heisenberg-Weyl and Grossmann-Royer operators are

1.1. Some Notation

In this preliminary section, we introduce some basic notation as well as the

1.1.1. The spaces JR~ and JR;

1.1.2. The symplectic structure of phase space

O"(z, z') = p · x' - p' · x.

O"(z, z') = z'T J z = (x' p') J (~)

where sr is the transpose of S. Symplectic matrices form a group: first, if

(SS'f J(SS') = S'T(ST JS)S' = S'T JS' = J,

hence SS' is symplectic as well. Secondly, we have

since J- 1 = -J, we thus have s- 1J(ST)- 1 = J, hence s- 1 is symplectic.