QUANTIZATION WITHOUT QUANTIZATION

Appropriate to a single classical degree of freedom, completely general, two-parameter ''coherent states'' are defined without the use of any group or any c-number to q-number transformation and in such a way that the classical phase space inherits a generically symmetry-free geometry. A coherent-state path integral provides a quantization prescription for a classical system that gives a new dimension to the generality of such a procedure. In addition, sets of coherent states may be designed so that each set is invariant under time evolution by a Kamiltonian chosen from an infinite set of distinct Hamiltonian operators. The extension of these ideas to multiple degree-of-freedom systems is indicated. (C) 1995 academic Press, Inc.