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Journal of Mathematical Physics

The Definition of States in Quantum Statistical Mechanics

Gérard G. Emch

Published Aug 1, 1966• 11 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The controversy relative to the use of normal states in quantum physics is discussed in the light of ergodic theory. The nature of the spectrum of the Hamiltonian is shown to play a central role in the decision to enlarge the ordinary frame provided by the traditional density-matrix formalism. The connection of these considerations with the infinite-time, infinite-volume limits in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics is pointed out.

DOI
10.1063/1.1705050

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The controversy relative to the use of normal states in quantum physics is discussed in the light of ergodic theory. The nature of the spectrum of the Hamiltonian is shown to play a central role in the decision to enlarge the ordinary frame provided by the traditional density-matrix formalism. The connection of these considerations with the infinite-time, infinite-volume limits in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics is pointed out.
The asymptotic behavior for t→±∞ of S(t)=exp(−i H t)Sexp(+i H t) and its time average S̄ (t)=t−1∫0tdu S(u) is discussed. Here is S an element of the Banach space B1, constituted by the trace class of operators on the (separable or nonseparable) Hilbert space H, and H is the Hamiltonian, i.e., a bounded or unbounded self-adjoint operator on H. Necessary and sufficient conditions are given for the existence of the limits S̄(± ∞) and S(± ∞) with respect to the weak topology on B1, for the latter under the assumption that the continuous spectrum of H is absolutely continuous. In addition it is shown that if, for a normal state (density operator) ρ, ρ̄(t) has a weak limit, then the limit is again a normal state. This provides further insight in the nature of Emch's ``first ergodic paradox'' [G. G. Emch, J. Math. Phys. 7, 1413 (1966)].
The fundamentals of Statistical Mechanics require a fresh definition in the context of the developments in Classical Mechanics of integrable and chaotic systems. This is done with the introduction of Micro Partitions ; a union of disjoint components in phase space. Partition functions including the invariants, Kolmogorov Entropy and Euler number are introduced. The ergodic hypothesis for partial ergodicity is discussed. In the context of Quantum Mechanics the presence of symmetry groups with irreducible representations gives rise to degenerate and non degenerate spectrum for the Hamiltonian. Quantum Statistical Mechanics is formulated including these two cases ; by including the multiplicity dimension of the group representation and the Casimir invariants into the Partition function. The possibility of new kinds of phase transitions is discussed. The occurence of systems with non simply connected configuration spaces and Quantum Mechanics for them, also requires a possible generalisation of Statistical Mechanics. The developments of Quantum pure, mixed, and entangled states has made it neccessary to understand the Statistical Mechanics of the multipartite N particle system. And to obtain in terms of the density matrices, written in energy basis, the Trace of the Gibbs operator as the Partition function and use it to get statistical averages of operators. There are some issues of definition, interpretation and application that are discussed.
We establish a rather deep relation between statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics at an imaginary time. For the quantum field theory, this implies a relation between finite temperature quantum field theory in Minkowski space and quantum field theory in Euclidean space with one compact Euclidean time direction. The quantum mechanical language being a proper formulation of statistical physics as a molecular theory is basically the study of quantum equilibrium as well as non-equilibrium systems. A quantum system found in a thermodynamic equilibrium state with an external classical system (thermostat or thermal reservoir) may be characterized by fixed values of thermodynamic parameters of the system, say, for example, temperature T , volume V and number of particles N . In this way the total energy of the thermostat is assumed to be much greater than the energy of the system. The behavior of the quantum system may be assumed to be independent of the nature of the thermostat. The most convenient object of the quantum theory to describe such non-isolated systems is the density matrix since the partition function does not determine any local thermodynamic quantities. It is for this reason that we introduced quantum mechanical and quantum statistical density matrices which are necessary to do the investigation via path integration. This enables us to make a transition to the quasi-classical approximation of quantum statistical mechanics, which, in turn, enables us to evaluate the first quantum correction to the classical Boltzmann distribution function.
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What kind of ensemble has to be used for describing general nonequilibrium behavior is one of the unsolved problems of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. We would like to propose a formalism for nonequilibrium many-body systems which follows the spirit of Gibbs' ensemble theory. We shall set forth a new perspective of Kirkwood's time-smoothing operation to define the initial density matrix. We will show that such an initial density matrix may be employed to prove the positivity of entropy production.
The study of quantum statistical mechanics begins with a review of the basic principles of quantum mechanics. Schrödinger’s equation is introduced and Eigenstates (or stationary states) are defined. Model probability for quantum statistics is assumed to have a uniform distribution in phases. Wave functions for many-body systems are defined. The density matrix is introduced. The Planck entropy and the microcanonical ensemble are defined. The differences between classical and quantum statistical mechanics are all based on the differing concepts of a microscopic ‘state’. While the classical microscopic state (specified by a point in phase space) determines the exact position and momentum of every particle, the quantum mechanical state determines neither; quantum states can only provide probability distributions for observable quantities.