Abstract The structure of the Bogoljubov -Valatin transformation and the HFB state is investigated by group-theoretical methods. A direct proof of the Bloch-Messiah factorization theorem shows that the second factor which contains the BCS part of the BV transformation can be chosen always real. An unitary representation of the Bogoljubov-Valatin group in the Fock space is constructed which allows to write down various equivalent expressions for the HFB state vector. The relation between the "unitary form" and the usual form of | HFB〉 is clarified using the "quasispin" concept in connection with a theorem about the factorization of the D(3) Lie group.
The Bogoliubov transformation is generally derived in the context of identical bosons with the use of "second quantized''
a and
a† operators (or, equivalently, in field theory). Here, we show that the transformation, together with its characteristic energy spectrum, can also be derived within the Hilbert space of distinguishable particles, obeying Boltzmann statistics; in this derivation, ordinary dyadic operators play the role usually played by the
a and
a† operators; therefore, breaking the symmetry of particle conservation is not necessary.