Completely integrable relativistic Hamiltonian systems and separation of variables in Hermitian hyperbolic spaces

Abstract

The Hamilton–Jacobi and Laplace–Beltrami equations on the Hermitian hyperbolic space HH(2) are shown to allow the separation of variables in precisely 12 classes of coordinate systems. The isometry group of this two-complex-dimensional Riemannian space, SU(2,1), has four mutually nonconjugate maximal abelian subgroups. These subgroups are used to construct the separable coordinates explicitly. All of these subgroups are two-dimensional, and this leads to the fact that in each separable coordinate system two of the four variables are ignorable ones. The symmetry reduction of the free HH(2) Hamiltonian by a maximal abelian subgroup of SU(2,1) reduces this Hamiltonian to one defined on an O(2,1) hyperboloid and involving a nontrivial singular potential. Separation of variables on HH(2) and more generally on HH(n) thus provides a new method of generating nontrivial completely integrable relativistic Hamiltonian systems.