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CRC Press eBooks

Occupation Number Representation

Rajat Kumar Chaudhuri, Sudip Kumar Chattopadhyay

Published Feb 17, 2017• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We demonstrated in the previous chapter (Chapter 1) that the evaluation of matrix elements between states represented by the Slater determinant can be evaluated unambiguously using Slater’s rule [1, 28, 40]. While the determinantal representation and the evaluation matrix elements between the states are quite straightforward, this procedure can eventually be ineffective and cumbersome with increasing size of the system. The occupation number formalism or second quantization technique introduced by Dirac in quantum field theory, in this context has been found to be quite formidable and elegant. This formalism not only allows us to represent the states and the operators in a compact and convenient form but also enables us to deal with systems containing variable numbers of particles without explicitly specifying the number of particles. It implicitly assumes the existence of an unspecified number of functions in a single-particle basis. These one-particle functions, which constitute the Hilbert space for N particles, are generally chosen to be spinorbital because of their orthogonality. In the case of fermions, the many-particle basis is the anti-symmetric product of N one-particle basis functions (Slater determinant). The vector space consisting of all possible anti-symmetric Hilbert spaces is referred to as the Fock space, in which the operators and functions are represented without specifying the number of particles.

DOI
10.1201/9781315373881-9

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In this chapter we describe a technique to deal with identical particles that is called second quantization . Despite being a technique, second quantization helps a lot in understanding physics. One can learn and endlessly repeat newspaper-style statements particles are fields , fields are particles without grasping their meaning. Second quantization brings these concepts to an operational level. Since the procedure of second quantization is slightly different for fermions and bosons, we have to treat the two cases separately. We start with considering a system of identical bosons, and introduce creation and annihilation operators (CAPs) that change the number of particles in a given many-particle state, thereby connecting different states in Fock space. We show how to express occupation numbers in terms of CAPs, and then get to the heart of the second quantization: the commutation relations for the bosonic CAPs. As a next step, we construct field operators out of the CAPs and spend quite some time (and energy) presenting the physics of the particles in terms of these field operators. Only afterward, do we explain why all this activity has been called second quantization. In Section 3.4 we then present the same procedure for fermions, and we mainly focus on what is different as compared to bosons. The formalism of second quantization is summarized in Table 3.1.

Cambridge University Press eBooks•Jan 3, 2013•0 citations

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Victor Galitski, Boris Mikhailovich Karnakov, Vladimir I Kogan +1 more

Abstract This chapter analyzes issues that deal with quantum statistics (symmetry of wavefunctions); elements of the second quantization formalism (the occupation-number representation); and the simplest systems with a large number of particles.

•Feb 28, 2013•0 citations
We demonstrated in the previous chapter (Chapter 1) that the evaluation of matrix elements between states represented by the Slater determinant can be evaluated unambiguously using Slater’s rule [1, 28, 40]. While the determinantal representation and the evaluation matrix elements between the states are quite straightforward, this procedure can eventually be ineffective and cumbersome with increasing size of the system. The occupation number formalism or second quantization technique introduced by Dirac in quantum field theory, in this context has been found to be quite formidable and elegant. This formalism not only allows us to represent the states and the operators in a compact and convenient form but also enables us to deal with systems containing variable numbers of particles without explicitly specifying the number of particles. It implicitly assumes the existence of an unspecified number of functions in a single-particle basis. These one-particle functions, which constitute the Hilbert space for N particles, are generally chosen to be spinorbital because of their orthogonality. In the case of fermions, the many-particle basis is the anti-symmetric product of N one-particle basis functions (Slater determinant). The vector space consisting of all possible anti-symmetric Hilbert spaces is referred to as the Fock space, in which the operators and functions are represented without specifying the number of particles.
In Section 14 we considered many nucleon states as the antisymmetrized products of single nucleon wave functions. Due to the antisymmetrization, the wave function is completely determined by the single nucleon states which are occupied. This suggests that a direct way to deal with many nucleon states is by using a representation in which occupied single nucleon states, rather than nucleon coordinates, are specified. To do this we have to define a fixed set of single nucleon states. The results ( 14.6 ), ( 14.7 ) indicate that we should provide matrix elements of relevant single nucleon operators, calculated in the basis of these single nucleon wave functions. The results ( 14.11 ), ( 14.12 ) and ( 14.13 ) show that we should also calculate matrix elements of two-body operators in the basis of single nucleon wave functions. These calculations should be performed in the way shown in preceding sections. They are carried out in configuration space by using wave functions of space coordinates as well as spin (and isospin) variables. Equipped with these matrix elements we can introduce the representation in terms of occupied states by using the formalism of second quantization. This formalism will now be briefly described without entering into serious discussions and rigorous proofs.
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce and apply the method of second quantization, a technique that underpins the formulation of quantum many-particle theories. The first part of the chapter focuses on methodology and notation, while the remainder is devoted to the development of applications designed to engender familiarity with and fluency in the technique. Specifically, we will investigate the physics of the interacting electron gas, charge density wave propagation in one-dimensional quantum wires, and spin waves in a quantum Heisenberg (anti) ferromagnet. Indeed, many of these examples and their descendants will reappear as applications in our discussion of methods of quantum field theory in subsequent chapters. In the previous chapter we encountered two field theories that could conveniently be represented in the language of “second quantization,” i.e. a formulation based on the algebra of certain ladder operators â k . There were two remarkable facts about this formulation: firstly, second quantization provides a compact way of representing the many-body space of excitations; secondly, the properties of the ladder operators were encoded in a simple set of commutation relations (cf. Eq. (1.33)) rather than in some explicit Hilbert space representation. Apart from a certain aesthetic appeal, these observations would not be of much relevance if it were not for the fact that the formulation can be generalized to a comprehensive and highly efficient formulation of many-body quantum mechanics in general.
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce and apply the method of second quantization, a technique that underpins the formulation of quantum many-particle theories. The first part of the chapter focusses on methodology and notation, while the remainder is devoted to the development of applications designed to engender familiarity with and fluency in the technique. Specifically, we will investigate the physics of the interacting electron gas, charge density wave propagation in one-dimensional quantum wires, and spin waves in a quantum Heisenberg (anti)ferromagnet. Indeed, many of these examples and their descendants will reappear as applications in our discussion of methods of quantum field theory in subsequent chapters. In the previous chapter we encountered two field theories that could conveniently be represented in the language of “second quantization,” i.e. a formulation based on the algebra of certain ladder operators â k . There were two remarkable facts about this formulation: firstly, second quantization provides a compact way of representing the many-body quasi-particle space of excitations; secondly, the properties of the ladder operators were encoded in a simple set of commutation relations (cf. Eq. (1.33)) rather than in some explicit Hilbert space representation. Apart from a certain aesthetic appeal, these observations would not be of much relevance if it were not for the fact that the formulation can be generalized to a comprehensive and highly efficient formulation of many-body quantum mechanics in general. In fact, second quantization can be considered the first major cornerstone on which the theoretical framework of quantum field theory was built.
In a first part we give a brief presentation of general Fock space setting to describe quantum field theory. Bosons are quantum particles with integer spin and have symmetric wave functions; Fermions are quantum particles with half-integer spin and are represented by anti-symmetric wave functions. The functional setting is given by a symmetric or anti-symmetric tensor product of Hilbert spaces. We describe these spaces and transformations between these spaces. We shall follow the references [23, 42]. Coherent states are defined by translating the vacuum states with the Weyl operators. This is easily done here for bosons. We shall see in the next chapter how to deal with fermions. In a second part we give an interesting application of bosonic coherent states to the study of the classical limit as ℏ↘0\hbar \searrow 0ℏ↘0 of non-relativistic boson systems with two body interaction in the neighborhood of a solution of the classical system (here the Hartree equation). The classical limit corresponds here to the mean-field limit as the number of particles goes to infinity. As we have done for finite systems, we use here Hepp’s method, which is a linearization procedure of the quantum Hamiltonian around the classical field. The fluctuations around this solution are controlled by a purely quadratic Hamiltonian. In a series of several important papers [114–116] Ginibre and Velo have proven an asymptotic expansion and remainder estimates for these quantum fluctuations. Finally, following the paper [225] one can show that, in the limit ℏ→0\hbar \rightarrow 0ℏ→0, the marginal distribution of the time-evolved coherent states tends in trace-norm to the projector onto the solution of the classical fields equation (Hartree equation) with a uniform remainder estimates in time.
In this chapter we describe a technique to deal with identical particles that is called second quantization . Despite being a technique, second quantization helps a lot in understanding physics. One can learn and endlessly repeat newspaper-style statements particles are fields , fields are particles without grasping their meaning. Second quantization brings these concepts to an operational level. Since the procedure of second quantization is slightly different for fermions and bosons, we have to treat the two cases separately. We start with considering a system of identical bosons, and introduce creation and annihilation operators (CAPs) that change the number of particles in a given many-particle state, thereby connecting different states in Fock space. We show how to express occupation numbers in terms of CAPs, and then get to the heart of the second quantization: the commutation relations for the bosonic CAPs. As a next step, we construct field operators out of the CAPs and spend quite some time (and energy) presenting the physics of the particles in terms of these field operators. Only afterward, do we explain why all this activity has been called second quantization. In Section 3.4 we then present the same procedure for fermions, and we mainly focus on what is different as compared to bosons. The formalism of second quantization is summarized in Table 3.1.