Toeplitz quantization is defined in a general setting in which the symbols are the elements of a possibly non-commutative algebra with a conjugation and a possibly degenerate inner product. We show that the quantum group SU q (2) is such an algebra. Unlike many quantization schemes, this Toeplitz quantization does not require a measure. The theory is based on the mathematical structures defined and studied in several recent papers of the author; those papers dealt with some specific examples of this new Toeplitz quantization. Annihilation and creation operators are defined as densely defined Toeplitz operators acting in a quantum Hilbert space, and their commutation relations are discussed. At this point Planck's constant is introduced into the theory. Due to the possibility of non-commuting symbols, there are now two definitions for anti-Wick quantization; these two definitions are equivalent in the commutative case. The Toeplitz quantization introduced here satisfies one of these definitions, but not necessarily the other. This theory should be considered as a second quantization, since it quantizes non-commutative (that is, already quantum) objects. The quantization theory presented here has two essential features of a physically useful quantization: Planck's constant and a Hilbert space where natural, densely defined operators act.Keywords: Toeplitz quantization, non-commutating symbols, creation and annihilation operators, canonical commutation relations, anti-Wick quantization, second quantization of a quantum group MSC 2010: 47B35, 81S99 1
IntroductionThe history of Toeplitz operators covers a bit over one hundred years and includes many major works, far too numerous to mention here. For a recent reference that will give the reader some first links to that extensive literature, see Section 3.5 in [18]. Speaking for myself, the papers [6], [7] and [11] have been rather influential. But the study of Toeplitz operators with symbols coming from a non-commutative algebra seems to be limited mostly to cases where the algebra is a matrix algebra or is some other quite specific noncommutative algebra such as in two recent works, [22] and [23], of the author. The papers [22] and [23] can be considered as two rather elaborated examples of the theory presented here. That study is continued in this paper, but in a much more general setting intended to clarify the mathematical structures at play in those two examples. A new example, the quantum group SU q (2) as symbol space, will also be presented here.The paper is organized as follows. After presenting the foundations of this theory in the next section, we define and analyze in Section 3 the Toeplitz quantization. In particular, Toeplitz operators are defined as densely defined operators acting in a quantum Hilbert space. The symbols of these Toeplitz operators come from a possibly non-commutative algebra A, which in physics terminology serves as the phase space for the theory. The common domain of these Toeplitz operators is P, a pre-Hilbert space and sub-a...