Unitarity in ``Quantization commutes with reduction'' (Q2472485)

Let \((M,\omega)\) be an integral compact Kähler manifold endowed with a Hamiltonian action of a compact Lie group \(G\). Choose an Hermitian line bundle \(l\) over \(M\) with a compatible connection \(\nabla \) in such a way that its curvature is \((-i\omega)\); \(l\) is called a prequantum bundle for \(M\). A classical result of \textit{V. Guillemin} and \textit{S. Sternberg} [Invent. Math. 67, 515--538 (1982; Zbl 0503.58018)] is that there is a natural invertible linear map between the ``first reduce and then quantize'' space (the space of all holomorphic sections of the bundle \({\hat l}^{\otimes k}\) over the symplectic quotient \(M//G\)) and the ``first quantize and then reduce'' space (the space of \(G\)-invariant holomorphic sections of the bundle \(l^{\otimes k}\) over \(M\)) where \(l^{\otimes k}\) is the \(k\)th tensor power of \(l\), and in this setting we interpret \(k\) as the reciprocal of Planck's constant \(\hbar \). From the point of view of quantum mechanics, it is not just the vector space structure of the quantum Hilbert space that is important, but also the inner product and so, it is natural to investigate the extent to which the Guillemin-Sternberg map is unitary. The authors modify the quantization procedure by the metaplectic correction (which involves tensoring the original line bundle with the square root of the canonical bundle, assuming that such a square root exists) and show the existence of a natural map of Guillemin-Sternberg type in this new setting which is invertible for all sufficiently large values of the tensor power \(k\). Also, they prove that this modified Guillemin-Sternberg map, unlike the original one, is asymptotically unitary in the limit as \(k\) tends to infinity.