Math 2.0

Differential geometry Symplectic geometry Theorem

Kontsevich quantization formula

Builds on Poisson manifoldFormal power series

Statement

Let U⊆ℝdU \subseteq \R^d be open and let πij=−πji\pi^{ij} = -\pi^{ji}, 1≤i,j≤d1 \le i, j \le d, be smooth functions on UU. Assume that {f,g}=∑i,jπij∂if ∂jg\{f, g\} = \sum_{i,j} \pi^{ij} \partial_i f \, \partial_j g satisfies the Jacobi identity. So UU is a Poisson manifold with Poisson bivector π\pi. For n≥0n \ge 0, let GnG_n be the set of admissible graphs. Such a graph has aerial vertices 1,…,n1, \ldots, n, ground vertices LL and RR, and 2n2n directed edges. Each aerial vertex is the source of exactly two edges, labeled first and second. No edge goes from a vertex to itself, and no two edges have the same source and target. To Γ∈Gn\Gamma \in G_n attach:

  1. the bidifferential operator BΓB_\Gamma. Place a copy of (πij)(\pi^{ij}) at each aerial vertex, ff at LL and gg at RR. Let each edge act as a partial derivative ∂i\partial_i on the object at its target, and sum over all indices;
  2. the weight wΓw_\Gamma defined below.

Let CnC_n be the space of configurations of nn distinct points in the upper half-plane ℍ\mathbb{H}, and put L=0L = 0 and R=1R = 1. Let ek1e_k^1 and ek2e_k^2 be the edges leaving vertex kk. For an edge ee, let ϕe\phi_e be the angle at the source of ee, in the hyperbolic metric of ℍ\mathbb{H}. It goes from the geodesic to ∞\infty to the geodesic to the target of ee. Then wΓ=1n! (2π)2n∫Cn⋀k=1n(dϕek1∧dϕek2).w_\Gamma = \frac{1}{n! \, (2\pi)^{2n}} \int_{C_n} \bigwedge_{k=1}^n \left( d\phi_{e_k^1} \wedge d\phi_{e_k^2} \right).

Let C∞(U)[ ⁣[ℏ] ⁣]C^\infty(U)[\![\hbar]\!] be the space of formal power series in ℏ\hbar with coefficients in C∞(U)C^\infty(U). Extend the following product ℏ\hbar-bilinearly to it: f⋆g=∑n≥0ℏn∑Γ∈GnwΓ BΓ(f,g).f \star g = \sum_{n \ge 0} \hbar^n \sum_{\Gamma \in G_n} w_\Gamma \, B_\Gamma(f, g). Then ⋆\star is associative, and f⋆g=fg+ℏ{f,g}+O(ℏ2)f \star g = fg + \hbar \{f, g\} + O(\hbar^2). So ⋆\star is a deformation quantization of (U,π)(U, \pi).

Remarks

Kontsevich obtained the formula from his formality theorem: there is an L∞L_\infty quasi-isomorphism from polyvector fields to polydifferential operators on ℝd\R^d. The formula is its explicit form, and associativity follows from Stokes' theorem on compactified configuration spaces, where the boundary terms either cancel or vanish by the Jacobi identity [π,π]=0[\pi, \pi] = 0. For a constant Poisson bivector only graphs without edges between aerial vertices contribute, and the formula gives the Moyal product. With the formality theorem and a globalization argument, Kontsevich showed that every Poisson manifold has a deformation quantization. He also showed that equivalence classes of star products correspond bijectively to equivalence classes of formal Poisson structures.

Going deeper

For a student

Before Kontsevich, star products were known for symplectic manifolds, by work of De Wilde and Lecomte and of Fedosov, but not for general Poisson manifolds. The weights wΓw_\Gamma are hard to compute in general. Cattaneo and Felder later explained the formula as a perturbative expansion of a topological field theory, the Poisson sigma model, on a disc.

Reading path

To understand this page from the ground up, read these 3 pages in order. The foundations come first.

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Further reading

  1. Web https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kontsevich_quantization_formula
About this page
TagJZEK70CH3G
URIm2://JZEK70CH3G
Kindstatement, theorem
WritingW0 stub
MSC53D55, 53D17
StatusThis copy of the site has no build data. Run m2 status JZEK70CH3G.
AboutPoisson manifold
UsesPoisson manifold, Formal power series
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Changed2 November 2026

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