Density Matrix

Jerome I. Kaplan, Gideon Fraenkel

Gui‐Lu Long

Density matrix is one important tool in quantum mechanics,and it has very broad applications.However there are different definitions about the density matrix,and they describe quite different systems.There has been some misunderstanding about the density matrix in the community,and these misunderstandings hinder the right application of the density matrix.In this article,we discuss the different definitions of density matrix. We suggest to use the full density matrix,compressed density matrix and the reduced density matrix to describe the state of a complete quantum system,the state of an averaged particle in an ensemble and the state of part of a composite system.We stress that contrary to the wide accepted understanding that ensembles with the same compressed density matrix are physically indistinguishable, they are distinguishable through the so-called ensemble measurement.As an application,we suggest that the present conclusion that the present-day nuclear magnetic resonance quantum computation does not have quantum entanglement is groundless.

L. Stanton

A study has been carried out on the relationship between formal scattering theory and the density matrix formalism. The density operator is developed in terms of the scattering operator S and the observable square modulus matrix elements of S are shown to be equivalent to elements of the density matrix. The Møller wave operators are similarly treated and subsequently used in obtaining the density matrix expression for the transition matrix. Finally, using the latter, it is shown that the hierarchy of approximations to the density matrix yields equivalent results to those obtained from the Born series.

Galina Nemova

John D. Patterson

The relations between the ordinary density matrix, the density matrix in the coordinate representation, the Löwdin density matrices, the Dirac density matrix, and other density matrices are traced. The roles of pure and mixed cases, equilibrium and nonequilibrium situations, and single- and many-body representations are considered.