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Density operators and Wigner functions

Helmut Hofmann

Published Apr 17, 2008• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract This chapter introduces density operators and matrices for many-body systems, and explains their reduction to one- and two-body densities. Starting from the Slater determinant, the latter are explicitly calculated for independent fermions. For such systems, the classical limit is discussed and formulas for partition function, free energy, and entropy are derived by introducing and employing the concept of Wigner transformations. The propagation of wave packets is described in one dimension, a case for which correspondence rules are derived for various combinations of quantum operators. Finally, formulas are given for the equilibrium distribution of the quantal oscillator and the associated Wigner function.

DOI
10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198504016.003.0019

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Abstract This chapter introduces density operators and matrices for many-body systems, and explains their reduction to one- and two-body densities. Starting from the Slater determinant, the latter are explicitly calculated for independent fermions. For such systems, the classical limit is discussed and formulas for partition function, free energy, and entropy are derived by introducing and employing the concept of Wigner transformations. The propagation of wave packets is described in one dimension, a case for which correspondence rules are derived for various combinations of quantum operators. Finally, formulas are given for the equilibrium distribution of the quantal oscillator and the associated Wigner function.
Abstract This chapter presents a short review of path integrals in quantum mechanics. This is followed by a detailed discussion of the evaluation of the semi-classical propagator, involving quadratic expansions of the action and the calculation of determinants. The concept of functionals is introduced for multi-dimensional cases, using a system linearly coupled to many oscillators as an example. The use of path integrals in statistical mechanics is described and quantum corrections to the classical limit are obtained. The connection with Green functions and level density is presented, with an excursion to periodic orbit theory and to the Gutzwiller formula for the oscillating part of the single particle level density. Many-body systems with separable interactions are treated by the Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation. For quantum corrections to the partition function, the static- and perturbed static path approximations are developed. The breakdown for unstable modes is discussed and a possible extension to damped motion is sketched.
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The classical and quantum representations of thermal equilibrium are strikingly different, even for free, non-interacting particles. While the first involves particles with well-defined positions and momenta, the second usually involves energy eigenstates that are delocalized over a confining volume. In this paper, we derive convex decompositions of the density operator for non-interacting, non-relativistic particles in thermal equilibrium that allow for a connection between these two descriptions. Associated with each element of the decomposition of the N-particle thermal state is an N-body wave function, described as a set of wave packets; the distribution of the average positions and momenta of the wave packets can be linked to the classical description of thermal equilibrium, while the different amplitudes in the wave function capture the statistics relevant for fermions or bosons.
Abstract The first part of the chapter is devoted to the discussion of density operators. We first introduce the definition of a density operator and the unitary evolution of a quantum state. We then examine the measurement of a quantum system using the density operator approach. We present the density operator associated with a qubit and a harmonic oscillator at thermal equilibrium. The second part of the chapter focuses on bipartite systems. We show that the quantum state of a subsystem is given by the partial trace of the density operator of the global system. Finally, we explain the concept of purification of a density operator
The algebraic Bethe Ansatz is a powerful method for the calculation of quantum correlation functions. In Part III we shall start this calculation. We shall arrive at an extremely important conclusion: quantum correlation functions can be represented as determinants of certain matrices. The dimension of these matrices is equal to the number of particles in the ground state. In order to better understand the nature of this matrix, one should look once more through section 6 of Chapter VI and section 10 of Chapter VII, where the determinant representation of the partition function for the six-vertex model with a special type of boundary conditions (domain wall) was obtained. Starting from determinant formulæe (VII.10.1) and (VII.10.2) and using also the formula for the determinant of the sum of two matrices (in the Appendix to Chapter IX), one can reproduce all the determinant formulæe in Part III. In the thermodynamic limit, the correlation functions will be represented as determinants of a Predholm integral operator. In Part IV, we shall explain how to use this determinant representation to write down the differential equation for a quantum correlation function. In Part IV we shall also discover that the differential equation for a quantum correlation function is closely related to the initial classical nonlinear differential equation, which was quantized (in our example this is the nonlinear Schrödinger equation). The quantum correlation functions play the role of the τ functions of a classical differential equation.