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Quantization of a nonholonomic system
Anthony M Bloch1, Alberto G Rojo
1Department of Mathematics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA. abloch@umich.edu
Abstract:
In this Letter, we consider the problem of quantizing a nonholonomic system. This is highly nontrivial since such a system, which is subject to nonholonomic constraints, is not variational (or Hamiltonian). Our approach is to couple the system to a field which enforces the constraint in a suitable limit. We consider a simple but representative nonholonomic system, the Chaplygin sleigh. We then quantize the full (Hamiltonian) system. This system exhibits a key complicating feature of some nonholonomic systems-internal dissipative dynamics.
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