The Geometric Phase in Quantum Systems: Foundations, Mathematical Concepts, and Applications in Molecular and Condensed Matter Physics (Theoretical and Mathematical Physics)

Aimed at graduate physics and chemistry students, this is the first comprehensive monograph covering the concept of the geometric phase in quantum physics from its mathematical foundations to its physical applications and experimental manifestations. It contains all the premises of the adiabatic Berry phase as well as the exact Anandan-Aharonov phase. It discusses quantum systems in a classical time-independent environment (time dependent Hamiltonians) and quantum systems in a changing environment (gauge theory of molecular physics). The mathematical methods used are a combination of differential geometry and the theory of linear operators in Hilbert Space. As a result, the monograph demonstrates how non-trivial gauge theories naturally arise and how the consequences can be experimentally observed. Readers benefit by gaining a deep understanding of the long-ignored gauge theoretic effects of quantum mechanics and how to measure them.