Slater Determinant

D. K. Sunko

Leslie L. Foldy

Given a function w completely antisymmetric in n variables, there may exist a set of n functions of one variable such that the given function is a Slater determinant in the latter. The first problem considered is that of obtaining a criterion for this to be the case for a given function. This problem is solved by considering the function w as a mapping of the space of functions in n − 1 variables onto the space of functions of one variable. A necessary and sufficient condition for the initial function to be a Slater determinant is then shown to be that the image space be n dimensional. This criterion is converted into practical algorithms which can be employed for the determination. The application of one of these yields the theorem that an arbitrary linear combination of the n + 1 Slater determinants in n variables formed from n + 1 one-variable functions can always be written as a single Slater determinant. It is further proved that if the image space of the mapping is m(>n) dimensional, the original function can be expressed as a linear combination of m!/(m − n)!n! Slater determinants in n variables formed from m one-variable functions. Playing an important role in the analysis is the product of the mapping described above by its adjoint (the product is simply related to Dirac's density matrix for a quantum mechanical system of identical particles) as well as the eigenvectors and eigenvalues of this Hermitian positive semidefinite mapping. The latter form a basis for a systematic approximation procedure for representing a given function by a single Slater determinant or by sums of Slater determinants formed from a particular number of one-variable functions, which yields results obtained previously by Löwdin. Problems of simultaneous approximation of sets of antisymmetric functions and possible physical applications to many-fermion systems are briefly discussed.

Ralph E. Christoffersen

A. M. Navon, A. Bose

A theoretical study of single-particle transformations, quasiparticle transformations, Slater determinants, and quasiparticle vacuum states is made for a given finite number of single-fermion states. The usual unitary single-particle or quasiparticle transformations are generalized. The new transformations are the most general transformations which transform Slater determinants into Slater determinants or quasiparticle vacuum states into quasiparticle vacuum states, and they contain as particular cases Thouless's nonunitary transformation. It is shown that several Brillouin theorems used in Hartree-Fock and Hartree-Bogolubov variation theories follow from the form of the continuous variations which can be performed in the space of Slater determinants and in the space of quasiparticle vacuum states.

Pietro Silvi, Davide Rossini, Giuseppe E. Santoro +1 more

Slater determinants are product states of filled quantum fermionic orbitals. When they are expressed in a configuration space basis chosen a priori, their entanglement is bound and controlled. This suggests that an exact representation of Slater determinants as finitely-correlated states is possible. In this paper we analyze this issue and provide an exact Matrix Product representation for Slater determinant states. We also argue possible meaningful extensions that embed more complex configuration interaction states into the description.

K. T. Hecht