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arXiv:2302.01264 · Physical review. D/Physical review. D.

General ordering theorem

Luca Ferialdi

Published May 15, 2023• 4 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The problem of ordering operators has afflicted quantum mechanics since its foundation. Several orderings have been devised, but a systematic procedure to move from one ordering to another is still missing. The importance of establishing relations among different orderings is demonstrated by Wick's theorem (which relates time ordering to normal ordering), which played a crucial role in the development of quantum field theory. We prove the general ordering theorem (GOT), which establishes a relation among any pair of orderings, that act on operators satisfying generic (i.e., operatorial) commutation relations. We expose the working principles of the GOT by simple examples, and we demonstrate its potential by recovering two famous algebraic theorems as special instances: the Magnus expansion and the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff formula. Remarkably, the GOT establishes a formal relation between these two theorems, and it provides compact expressions for them, unlike the notoriously complicated ones currently known.

DOI
10.1103/physrevd.107.105010

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The problem of ordering operators has afflicted quantum mechanics since its foundation. Several orderings have been devised, but a systematic procedure to move from one ordering to another is still missing. The importance of establishing relations among different orderings is demonstrated by Wick's theorem (which relates time ordering to normal ordering), which played a crucial role in the development of quantum field theory. We prove the general ordering theorem (GOT), which establishes a relation among any pair of orderings, that act on operators satisfying generic (i.e., operatorial) commutation relations. We expose the working principles of the GOT by simple examples, and we demonstrate its potential by recovering two famous algebraic theorems as special instances: the Magnus expansion and the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff formula. Remarkably, the GOT establishes a formal relation between these two theorems, and it provides compact expressions for them, unlike the notoriously complicated ones currently known.
Wick's theorem provides a connection between time ordered products of bosonic or fermionic fields, and their normal ordered counterparts. We consider a generic pair of operator orderings and we prove, by induction, the theorem that relates them. We name this the general Wick's theorem (GWT) because it carries Wick's theorem as special instance, when one applies the GWT to time and normal orderings. We establish the GWT both for bosonic and fermionic operators, i.e., operators that satisfy c-number commutation and anticommutation relations respectively. We remarkably show that the GWT is the same, independent of the type of operator involved. By means of a few examples, we show how the GWT helps treat demanding problems by reducing the amount of calculations required.
Abstract Wick’s theorem, known for yielding normal ordered from time-ordered bosonic fields, may be generalized for a simple relationship between any two orderings that we define over canonical variables, in a broader sense than before. In this broad class of orderings, the general Wick theorem follows from the Baker–Campbell–Hausdorff identity. We point out that, generally, the characteristic function does not induce an unambigous scheme to order the multiple products of the canonical operators although the value of the ordered product is unique. We construct a manifold of different schemes for each value of s of s -orderings of Cahill and Glauber.
The new ccc-number calculus for functions of noncommuting operators, developed in Paper I and employed in Paper II to formulate a general phase-space description of boson systems, deals with situations involving equal-time operators only. In the present paper extensions are presented for the treatment of problems involving boson operators at two or more instants of time. The mapping of time-ordered products onto ccc-number functions is studied in detail. The results make it possible to evaluate time-ordered products of boson operators by phase-space techniques. The usual Wick theorem for boson systems is obtained as a special case of a much more general theorem on time ordering. Our method of derivation appears to provide the first direct proof of Wick's theorem as well as a clear insight into its true meaning. A closed expression is also obtained for the time-evolution operator in terms of the solution of the ccc-number differential equation for the phase-space equivalent of this operator. The new calculus is also applied to the problem of evaluating normally ordered time-ordered, and also the antinormally ordered time-ordered, correlation functions.
We introduce the general method of converting a given operator function into its s -ordered form. We state and prove a theorem representing the fact that any ordered expansion of some operator function might be considered as the combinatorial problem of counting the number of contractions. This will also unify the two essentially distinct notions of 'taking an operator into some ordered form' and 'reordering, or formally, ordering an operator'. In this way, we reduce the general ordering problem into a purely combinatorial one. Finally, we show the application of the theorem through two generic examples from both quantum optics and field theory.
We study perturbation expansions for quantum systems which are nonlinear in the sense that they may contain derivative couplings. The characteristic feature of these systems is the occurrence of products of noncommuting operators in the interaction Hamiltonian. In order to perform perturbation expansions in the Dyson-Wick manner it is in general necessary to order these operators according to some ordering scheme. We determine the most general scheme of this sort which allows a Dyson-Wick expansion with pair contractions. It involves a set $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ of three dimensionless ordering parameters which are related to the three aaa priori undetermined equal-time contractions. Different $\ensuremath{\lambda}$-ordering schemes are related via an "equal-time" or "static" Wick theorem. In order to be able to contract operators which may be taken either at equal or at different times we introduce a time-ordering operation ${T}_{\ensuremath{\lambda}}$ which extends Dyson's time-ordering operation to equal times in a fashion dependent on the $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ ordering. We arrive at a "dynamic" Wick theorem which enables us to decompose the ${T}_{\ensuremath{\lambda}}$ product of a set of operators taken at arbitrary times into a sum of ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ products, where the most important case is that in which ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ represents normal ordering. Contrary to the usual Wick theorem ours works also in the case when two or more times coincide. Applying this theorem to the scattering operator expressed as a ${T}_{\ensuremath{\lambda}}$ product we obtain a class of Dyson-Wick expansions for nonlinear systems. Different expansions correspond to different choices of the ordering $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ and lead to different Feynman rules. The resulting diagrammatic technique for nonlinear systems is seen to have the following special features: (i) The interaction vertices include terms which arise from "quantum corrections," which are dependent on the ordering \ensuremath{\lambda} chosen for the noncommuting factors in the interaction Hamiltonian, and (ii) the equal-time contractions which occur in the closed-loop diagrams must be assigned corresponding $\ensuremath{\lambda}$-dependent values. In this way individual diagrams are $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ dependent. Nevertheless their sum is $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ independent, confirming the fact that the complete scattering operator is independent of the particular ordering chosen. The ordering multiplicity is also reflected in functional versions of the Dyson-Wick expansion. In the path-integral version this multiplicity lurks in the different possible discretization prescriptions. We discuss the relevance of our considerations to the question of the invariance of a quantum theory with respect to nonlinear point transformations. For the special case of a reducible system we present explicit calculations which show how this invariance is maintained in perturbation theory, for any ordering scheme belonging to the $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ class. In any particular scheme the invariance is ensured by a more or less intricate cancellation mechanism between the individual diagrams.
A generalization of normal ordering and of Wick’s theorem with respect to an arbitrary reference function Φ as some generalized “physical vacuum” is formulated in a different (but essentially equivalent) way than that suggested previously by one of the present authors. Guiding principles are that normal order operators with respect to any reference state must be expressible as linear combinations of those with respect to the genuine vacuum, that the vacuum expectation value of a normal order operator must vanish (with respect to the vacuum to which it is in normal order), and that the well-known formalism for a single Slater determinant as physical vacuum must be contained as a special case. The derivation is largely based on the concepts of “Quantum Chemistry in Fock space,” which means that particle-number-conserving operators (excitation operators) play a central role. Nevertheless, the contraction rules in the frame of a generalized Wick theorem are derived, that hold for non-particle-number-conserving operators as well. The contraction rules are formulated and illustrated in terms of diagrams. The contractions involve the “residual n-particle density matrices” λ, which are the irreducible (non-factorizable) parts of the conventional n-particle density matrices γ, in the sense of a cumulant expansion for the density. A spinfree formulation is presented as well. The expression of the Hamiltonian in normal order with respect to a multiconfiguration reference function leads to a natural definition of a generalized Fock operator. MC-SCF-theory is easily worked out in this context. The paper concludes with a discussion of the excited configurations and the first-order interacting space, that underlies a perturbative coupled cluster type correction to the MCSCF function for an arbitrary reference function, and with general implications of the new formalism, that is related to “internally contracted multireference configuration interaction.” The present generalization of normal ordering is not only valid for arbitrary reference functions, but also if the reference state is an ensemble state.