Invariance operator groups for a charged particle in an external electromagnetic field

In this paper a general group theoretical approach is given for the problem of a charged particle moving in an external electromagnetic field F. From a knowledge of the symmetry transformations of the field (Galilean or Poincaré), it is possible to explicitly construct groups of operators which commute with the operators of the equations of motion (classical, quantum mechanical, Klein-Gordon or Dirac) using the concept of compensating gauge transformations together with a uniquely chosen map π: F → A fixing the gauge of the potential A. Other choices of gauges give rise to isomorphic operator groups. The general structure of the possible symmetry groups of the fields is discussed and the corresponding invariance operator groups are explicitly given for (almost) arbitrary fields. The structure of these groups is then investigated and it is shown in particular that a large class of fields give rise to non-Type I groups, i.e. to groups which have (unitary continuous) representations whose corresponding von Neumann algebras have non-discrete factors. A general criterion for these pathological cases is given. As an application, we study the problem of a Bloch electron in arbitrary constant uniform electric and magnetic fields.