PHASE-SPACE DESCRIPTION OF QUANTUM ROTATIONS

We propose a Wigner transformation of the density matrix and operators of a system with bounded coordinates and discrete momentum spectra (typically, a particle in a box) and prove that all requirements for such a transformation are satisfied. The phase-space mapping adopted here is employed to compute the quasiprobability distributions associated with the pure states of a quantum rotator and the image of the angular momentum operator. The mapping of the dynamics of these objects, both in the reversible and irreversible frame, is constructed as well, and the conditions for the existence of a classical limit in the form of a Fokker-Planck equation of motion are investigated.