Minimal lengths in 3D via the generalized uncertainty principle

We investigate an extension of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP) in three dimensions by modifying the three dimensional position and momentum operators in a manner that remains coordinate-independent and retains as much of the standard position-momentum commutators as possible. Moreover, we bound the physical momentum which leads to an effective minimal length in every coordinate direction. The physical consequences of these modified operators are explored in two scenarios: (i) when a spherically-symmetric wave function is 'compressed' into the smallest possible volume; (ii) when the momentum is directed in a single direction. In case (ii), we find that the three dimensional GUP exhibits interesting phenomena that do not occur in one dimension: the minimal distance in the direction parallel to a particle's momentum is different from the minimal distance in the orthogonal directions.

Automated summary

We extend the three-dimensional Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP) by modifying the position and momentum operators in a coordinate-independent manner and with minimal changes to the standard position-momentum commutators. This modification leads to a physical momentum bound and an effective minimal length in each coordinate direction. Two scenarios are explored: when a spherically-symmetric wave function is compressed to its smallest volume, and when momentum is directed in a single direction. In the latter scenario, the three-dimensional GUP exhibits unique phenomena not present in one dimension, including different minimal distances in the direction parallel to the particle's momentum compared to the orthogonal directions.