Canonical Quantization of the Dissipative Hofstadter Model

Abstract

We perform canonical quantization of the dissipative Hofstadter model, which has a wide range of applications in condensed matter physics and string theory. The target space duality and the non-commutative algebra developed in string theory are discussed for the model. We show that the target space duality transformation of closed string theory, $O(2,2;R)$, removes the interaction with a uniform magnetic field. The $O(2,2;R)$ dual transformation changes the basis of oscillator operators so that the algebra of the string coordinate operators at the boundary become non-commutative. In the zero temperature limit, the non-commutative algebra of open string theory emerges. We also developed the boundary state formulation for the dissipative Hofstadter model.