Generalized coherent states and the diagonal representation for operators

Abstract

We consider the problem of existence of the diagonal representation for operators in the space of a family of generalized coherent states associated with a unitary irreducible representation of a (compact) Lie group. We show that necessary and sufficient conditions for the possibility of such a representation can be obtained by combining Clebsch-Gordan theory and the reciprocity theorem associated with induced unitary group representations. Applications to several examples involving SU(2), SU(3), and the Heisenberg-Weyl group are presented, showing that there are simple examples of generalized coherent states which do not meet these conditions. Our results are relevant for phase-space description of quantum mechanics and quantum state reconstruction problems.