Normal ordering in string theory and the canonical phase space quantization

Abstract: We consider quantization techniques with a particular emphasis on the phase space quantization, as encountered in quasi-probabilistic descriptions and in string theory. We investigate what is lost by adopting the normal ordering prescription, by revisiting fundamental quantization concepts and the correspondence rules that define the well-known quasi-distributions: the Wigner, Q, and P functions, some of which are inherently ordering dependent. The actual quantum state dictates the necessity of employing discrete countable structures or, alternatively, the complex phase space formulation based on coherent states, and the quasi-distributions depict the existence of the phase space dynamics, of the wave translations and the propagating directions.