Heisenberg group of the Heisenberg group is fairly simple – later generalized by Mackey theory – and was the motivation for its introduction in quantum physics, as discussed below. For each nonzero real number formula_27, we can define an irreducible unitary representation formula_48 of formula_31 acting on the Hilbert space formula_50 by the formula: This representation is known as the Schrödinger representation. The motivation for the this representation is the action of the exponentiated position and momentum operators in quantum mechanics. The parameter formula_52 describes translations in position space, the parameter formula_53 describes translations in momentum space, and the parameter formula_54 gives
Heisenberg group operators on formula_103: for formula_109. So too do the multiplications by characters: for formula_111. These operators do not commute, and instead satisfy multiplication by a fixed unit modulus complex number. So the Heisenberg group formula_113 associated with "K" is a type of central extension of formula_114, via an exact sequence of groups: More general Heisenberg groups are described by 2-cocyles in the cohomology group formula_116. The existence of a duality between formula_117 and formula_101 gives rise to a canonical cocycle, but there are generally others. The Heisenberg group acts irreducibly on formula_103. Indeed, the continuous characters separate points so any