This chapter shows how to construct path integral representation using a closure relation based on the eigenstates of the creation or the annihilation operators. It examines how coherent states are used to obtain a path integral representation of the partition function as well as calculating directly the trace defining the partition function. The chapter explores quantum field theory using the Feynman functional and diagrammatic techniques as foundations to apply Quantum Field Theory to a broad range of topics in physics. The minimum uncertainty wave packets for the harmonic oscillator were published as coherent states by Schrodinger. Coherent states have played an important role in many branches of physics and, in particular, quantum field theory and quantum optics. The most important property of coherent states is their overcompleteness in the Fock space, which implies that any vector of the Fock space can be expanded in terms of coherent states.
This chapter shows how to construct path integral representation using a closure relation based on the eigenstates of the creation or the annihilation operators. It examines how coherent states are used to obtain a path integral representation of the partition function as well as calculating directly the trace defining the partition function. The chapter explores quantum field theory using the Feynman functional and diagrammatic techniques as foundations to apply Quantum Field Theory to a broad range of topics in physics. The minimum uncertainty wave packets for the harmonic oscillator were published as coherent states by Schrodinger. Coherent states have played an important role in many branches of physics and, in particular, quantum field theory and quantum optics. The most important property of coherent states is their overcompleteness in the Fock space, which implies that any vector of the Fock space can be expanded in terms of coherent states.
In this Chapter we study the Weyl–Heisenberg group in the Schrödinger representation in arbitrary dimension n. One shows that it operates in the Hilbert space of quantum states (and on quantum operators) as a phase-space translation. Then applying it to a Schwartz class state of arbitrary profile we get a set of generalized coherent states. When we apply the Weyl–Heisenberg translation operator to the ground state of the n-dimensional Harmonic Oscillator, one gets the standard coherent states introduced by Schrödinger [233] (Naturwissenshaften 14:664–666, 1926) in the early days of quantum mechanics (1926). Later the coherent states have been extensively studied by Glauber [118, 119] (Phys. Rev. 131:2766–2788, 1963; Phys. Rev. 130:2529–2539, 1963) for the purpose of quantum optics and it seems that their name comes back to this work. The standard coherent states have been generalized by Perelomov [208] (Generalised Coherent States and Their Applications, 1986) to more general Lie groups than the Weyl–Heisenberg group. We also introduce the usual creation and annihilation operators in dimension n which are very convenient for the study of coherent states. We show that coherent states constitute a non-orthogonal over-complete system which yields a resolution of the identity operator in the Hilbert space and which allows a computation of the Hilbert–Schmidt norm and of the trace of respectively Hilbert–Schmidt class and trace-class operators. We study their time-evolution for the quantum Harmonic Oscillator hamiltonian and show that a time evolved coherent state located around phase-space point z is up to a phase a coherent state located around the phase-space point zt, where zt is the phase-space point of the classical flow governed by the Harmonic Oscillator. This property was described by Schrödinger as the non-spreading of the time evolution of coherent states under the quantum Harmonic Oscillator dynamics. We also show how to go from the Schrödinger to the Fock–Bargmann representation using the standard coherent states.
This chapter presents an analogous formalism which is developed for systems composed of many identical particles. Another extremely useful basis of the Fock space is the basis of coherent states which is analogous to the basis of position eigenstates in quantum mechanics. A crucial property of the coherent states is their overcompleteness in the Fock space, that is, the fact that any vector of the Fock space can be expanded in terms of coherent states. Boson coherent states are the physical states which emerge naturally when taking the classical limit of quantum mechanics or of a quantum field theory. In contrast, Fermion coherent states are not contained in the Fermion Fock space, they are not physically observable, and there are no classical fields of Fermions. In the subsequent development, this physical difference will give rise to some significant differences in the treatment of Bosons and Fermions.
The elementary quantum theory of quasi-classical states for mechanical harmonic oscillators is applied to the radiation oscillators describing light, and thus used to define quasi-classical states of light. These states are called “coherent”, because the expectation value of any normally ordered product of creation and annihilation operators factorizes for them. A theoretical discussion of possible sources for coherent states is followed by experimental evidence for their existence. The mathematical properties of coherent states, e.g., nonorthogonality and overcompleteness, are explained in order to use them to represent states and operators. These representations provide a suitable replacement for the classical phase space description of light, which is forbidden by the uncertainty principle. The quantum phase space approach leads to the definition of the Wigner distribution, the Q-function, the P-function, and Gaussian mixed states.
Abstract This chapter defines and determines the properties of the important (though non-physical) boson and fermion coherent states, which are specified in terms of c-number (bosons) or Grassmann (fermions) variables and their complex conjugates, and defined via unitary displacement operators acting on the vacuum state. Important non-orthogonality, overcompleteness and coherence properties of coherent states are obtained. Coherent states are shown to be eigenstates of mode annihilation operators, with eigenvalues given by the c-number or Grassmann variable specifying the state. Related (unnormalised) Bargmann states are defined, depending only on the variable and not its complex conjugate, and are used to obtain useful representations of physical states and canonical forms for operators in terms of Bargmann state projectors, as well as obtaining important results such as for traces of operator products in terms of phase space integrals. Mode creation operators acting on Bargmann states are shown as equivalent to differentiation.
At the end of the preceding chapter, we showed that the photon number states | n 〉 have a uniform phase distribution over the range 0 to 2π. Essentially, then, there is no well-defined phase for these states and, as we have already shown, the expectation value of the field operator for a number state vanishes. It is frequently suggested (see, for example, Sakurai) that the classical limit of the quantized field is the limit in which the number of photons becomes very large such that the number operator becomes a continuous variable. However, this cannot be the whole story since the mean field 〈 n | Ê x | n 〉 = 0 no matter how large the value of n . We know that at a fixed point in space a classical field oscillates sinusoidally in time. Clearly this does not happen for the expectation value of the field operator for a number state. In this chapter we present a set of states, the coherent states, which do give rise to a sensible classical limit; and, in fact, these states are the “most classical” quantum states of a harmonic oscillator, as we shall see. Eigenstates of the annihilation operator and minimum uncertainty states In order to have a non-zero expectation value of the electric field operator or, equivalently, of the annihilation and creation operators, we are required to have a superposition of number states differing only by ±1.
This chapter presents some basic aspects of coherent and squeezed states. Certain superpositions of energy Eigen functions of linear harmonic oscillators are called coherent states because they are of significance in optics for the representation of coherent light waves. The chapter obtains the Heisenberg uncertainty relation for the harmonic oscillator states and shows that it is a minimum for ground state. It defines coherent states and shows that they are the minimum uncertainty product states. Coherent states were constructed for many interesting potentials including infinite well and Poschl-Teller potentials and Morse potential. A particular quantum state of a spin system which most closely resembles a classical spin is termed as a spin coherent state. Use of squeezed states in quantum cryptography, quantum distribution of keys, extended coherence time, quantum engineering, teleportation, optics, detection of gravitational waves, quantum metrology and laser interferometers have been analyzed.