Multicomponent Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin approximation on arbitrary symplectic manifolds: A star product approach

Abstract

It is known that in the Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin approximation of multicomponent systems like the Dirac equation or Born–Oppenheimer approximation, an additional phase appears apart from the Berry phase. So far, this phase was only examined in special cases, or under certain restrictive assumptions, namely, that the eigenspaces of the matrix or endomorphism valued symbol of the Hamiltonian form trivial bundles. We give a completely global derivation of this phase which does not depend on any choice of local trivializing sections. This is achieved using a star product approach to quantization. Furthermore, we give a systematic and global approach to a reduction of the problem to a problem defined completely on the different “polarizations.” Finally, we discuss to what extent it is actually possible to reduce the problem to a really scalar one, and make some comments on obstructions to the existence of global quasiclassical states.