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Classical and quantum mechanics across representations: An operational reading of the Wigner-Weyl correspondence

Samuel Schlegel1, Borivoje Dakić1,2, and Flavio Del Santo3,4

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Phys. Rev. A 114, 052208 – Published 6 November, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/52dz-d3kw

Abstract

The physical content of a theory is not intrinsically tied to any single mathematical formalism. Both classical and quantum mechanics admit equivalent representations, notably in phase space and in Hilbert space, related by the Wigner-Weyl correspondence. While this correspondence has long been studied in mathematical physics, its foundational and operational implications are often left implicit. Here we give a systematic account of what changes—and what does not—when classical and quantum theories are expressed in each other's native language. This representational viewpoint separates artifacts (such as the appearance of nonpositivity or negativity under certain maps) from robust structural distinctions that persist across representations, in particular noncommutativity and its ℏ-dependent ★-deformation of the classical algebra. We develop the comparison at the level of states, kinematics, and dynamics, and extend it to measurement by formulating both outcome statistics and state-update rules within the same framework.

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Phys. Rev. A 114, 052208– Published 6 November, 2026
  • Received 17 July 2026
  • Accepted 16 October 2026
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