Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Journal of Mathematical Physics

Linear Inequalities for Density Matrices. II

Walter B. McRae, Ernest R. Davidson

Published Oct 1, 1972• 61 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A general method is described for finding linear inequalities relating physical properties of an ensemble which can exist only in a finite number of states. This algorithm is used to solve a few examples of the fixed-N and variable-N Slater hull problem and the fixed-N Boson hull problem. Interpretations of the results are made in terms of boundary conditions for fermion and boson reduced density matrices, pair distributions of lattice vacancies, and pair distributions of spins in an Ising model.

DOI
10.1063/1.1665874

Related papers

Inequalities for fermion density matrices

Claude Garrod, James Michael Hannon

Abstract A partial trace over the occupation numbers of all but k states in the density matrix of an ensemble with an arbitrary number of single‐particle states is defined as the (reduced) k‐state density matrix. This matrix is used to obtain a complete, practical solution to the problem of determining the representability of the diagonal elements of the one‐ and two‐particle (reduced) density matrices. This solution is expressed as a series of linear inequalities involving the density‐matrix elements; the inequalities are identical with those derived previously by Davidson and McCrae by a different method. In addition, our method is used to obtain nonlinear, matrix inequalities on the off‐diagonal elements of the density matrices.

International Journal of Quantum Chemistry•Jan 1, 1978•4 citations

The role of model systems in the few‐body reduction of the N‐fermion problem

Jerome K. Percus

Abstract The problem of upper and lower ground state energy bounds for many‐fermion systems is considered from the viewpoint of reduced density matrices. Model density matrices are used for upper bounds to, first uncoupled, then coupled fermions. Model Hamiltonians are developed for lower bounds in corresponding fashion. Both mathematical and physical models are constructed for setting up universally valid inequalities on density matrices. These are joined by both inequalities and equalities in which the explicit form of the system at hand is used. A few illustrative examples are presented.

International Journal of Quantum Chemistry•Jan 1, 1978•147 citations

Linear Inequalities for Density Matrices

Ernest R. Davidson

A set of linear inequalities for the reduced two-body density matrix is presented. The general problem of finding all such inequalities is discussed. It is shown that all of the linear inequalities found so far for ensemble representability may be written as a single family of inequalities.

Journal of Mathematical Physics•Apr 1, 1969•80 citations

Density matrices and density functionals : proceedings of the A. John Coleman symposium

Alan Coleman, Robert Erdahl, Vedene H. Smith

A Tribute to A. John Coleman - The Tame Mathematician.- Reduced Density Matrices: 1929-1989.- Some Aspects on the Development of the Theory of Reduced Density Matrices and the Representability Problem.- Representability Conditions.- On the Diagonal N-Representability Problem.- Fermion N-Representability Conditions Generated by a Decomposition of the 1-Particle Identity Operator onto Mutually Orthogonal Projection Operators.- The Unitarily Invariant Decomposition of Hermitian Operators.- Building Up N-Electron States with Symplectic Symmetry.- Time Dependent Antisymmetrized Geminal Power Theory Using a Coherent State Formulation.- Griffiths Inequalities for Fermion Systems.- Entropy of Reduced Density Matrices.- A Lower Bound to the Ground State Energy of a Boson System With Fermion Source.- Reduced Density Operators, Their Related von Neumann Density Operators, Close Cousins of These, and Their Physical Interpretation.- Theory and Practice of the Spin-Adapted Reduced Hamiltonians (SRH).- Variational Principle with Built-In Pure State N-Representability Conditions. The N-Electron Case.- Wigner Distributions as Representations of the Density Matrix.- Inter-Relationships Between Various Representations of One-Matrices and Related Densities: A Road Map and an Example ..- Current Problems in Density Functional Theory.- The Interface Between Reduced Density Matrices and Density Functional Theory.- The Physics Underlying the Langreth-Mehl Scheme for Non-Uniform Systems.- Understanding Energy Differences in Density Functional Theory.- Density Functional Calculations of Molecular Bond Energies.- Non-Local Effects on Atomic and Molecular Correlation Energies Studied with a Gradient-Corrected Density Functional.- An Evaluation of Local Electron Correlation Corrections and Non-Local Exchange Corrections to the Hartree-Fock-Slater Method from Calculations on Bond Energies and Electronic Spectra of Molecular Systems.- Correlation Energy Functionals of One-Matrices and Hartree-Fock Densities.- Some Remarks on Scaling Relations in Density Functional Theory.- Deduction of Semiempirical MO Methods from Density Functional Theory.- Charge and Spin Densities in Molecular Solids: Local Density Functional Calculations Versus Experiment.- A Functional of the Two-Particle Density Matrix for the Approximate Calculation of the Electronic Correlation Energy.- Extracules, Intracules, Correlation Holes, Potentials, Coefficients and All That.- The Exact Schroedinger Equation for the Electron Density.- Adiabatic Separation, Broken Symmetries and Geometry Optimization.- Asymptotic Results for Density Matrices and Electron Density in Atoms and Nearly Spherical Molecules.- An Algorithm for Calculating Isoelectronic Changes in Energies, Densities, and One-Matrices.- Atoms and Ions in the Limit of Large Nuclear Charge.- Improved Thomas-Fermi Theory for Atoms.- A Bond Energy from Quantum Mechanics.- Measured Electron Densities and Band Structure Calculations.- X-ray Orthonormal Orbital Model for Crystallography.

D. Reidel Pub. Co. eBooks•Jan 1, 1987•19 citations

A combinatorial approach to the diagonal 𝑁-representability problem

Mark Laurance Yoseloff

The problem considered is that of the diagonal N -representability of a p th-order reduced density matrix, p ≥ 2 p \geq 2 , for a system of N identical fermions or bosons. A finite number M of allowable single particle states is assumed. The problem is divided into three cases, namely: Case I. M = N + p M = N + p ; Case II. M > N + p M > N + p ; Case III. M > N + p M > N + p . Using the theory of polyhedral convex cones, a complete set of necessary and sufficient conditions is first found for Case I. This solution is then employed to find such conditions for Case II. For Case III, two algorithms are developed to generate solutions for the problem, and examples of the usage of these algorithms are given.

Transactions of the American Mathematical Society•Jan 1, 1974•14 citations

Refining ensemble N -representability of one-body density matrices from partial information

Julia Liebert, Anna O. Schouten, Irma Avdic +2 more

Abstract The N -representability problem places fundamental constraints on reduced density matrices (RDMs) that originate from physical many-fermion quantum states. Motivated by recent developments in functional theories, we introduce a hierarchy of ensemble one-body N -representability problems that incorporate partial knowledge of the one-body RDMs (1RDMs) within an ensemble of N -fermion states with fixed weights w i . Specifically, we propose a systematic relaxation that reduces the refined problem—where full 1RDMs are fixed for certain ensemble elements—to a more tractable form involving only natural occupation number vectors. Remarkably, we show that this relaxed problem is related to a generalization of Horn’s problem, enabling an explicit solution by combining its constraints with those of the weighted ensemble N -representability conditions. An additional convex relaxation yields a convex polytope that provides physically meaningful restrictions on lattice site occupations in ensemble density functional theory for excited states.

arXiv:2506.09960•New Journal of Physics•Dec 1, 2025•0 citations
A general method is described for finding linear inequalities relating physical properties of an ensemble which can exist only in a finite number of states. This algorithm is used to solve a few examples of the fixed-N and variable-N Slater hull problem and the fixed-N Boson hull problem. Interpretations of the results are made in terms of boundary conditions for fermion and boson reduced density matrices, pair distributions of lattice vacancies, and pair distributions of spins in an Ising model.
Abstract A partial trace over the occupation numbers of all but k states in the density matrix of an ensemble with an arbitrary number of single‐particle states is defined as the (reduced) k‐state density matrix. This matrix is used to obtain a complete, practical solution to the problem of determining the representability of the diagonal elements of the one‐ and two‐particle (reduced) density matrices. This solution is expressed as a series of linear inequalities involving the density‐matrix elements; the inequalities are identical with those derived previously by Davidson and McCrae by a different method. In addition, our method is used to obtain nonlinear, matrix inequalities on the off‐diagonal elements of the density matrices.
Abstract The problem of upper and lower ground state energy bounds for many‐fermion systems is considered from the viewpoint of reduced density matrices. Model density matrices are used for upper bounds to, first uncoupled, then coupled fermions. Model Hamiltonians are developed for lower bounds in corresponding fashion. Both mathematical and physical models are constructed for setting up universally valid inequalities on density matrices. These are joined by both inequalities and equalities in which the explicit form of the system at hand is used. A few illustrative examples are presented.
A Tribute to A. John Coleman - The Tame Mathematician.- Reduced Density Matrices: 1929-1989.- Some Aspects on the Development of the Theory of Reduced Density Matrices and the Representability Problem.- Representability Conditions.- On the Diagonal N-Representability Problem.- Fermion N-Representability Conditions Generated by a Decomposition of the 1-Particle Identity Operator onto Mutually Orthogonal Projection Operators.- The Unitarily Invariant Decomposition of Hermitian Operators.- Building Up N-Electron States with Symplectic Symmetry.- Time Dependent Antisymmetrized Geminal Power Theory Using a Coherent State Formulation.- Griffiths Inequalities for Fermion Systems.- Entropy of Reduced Density Matrices.- A Lower Bound to the Ground State Energy of a Boson System With Fermion Source.- Reduced Density Operators, Their Related von Neumann Density Operators, Close Cousins of These, and Their Physical Interpretation.- Theory and Practice of the Spin-Adapted Reduced Hamiltonians (SRH).- Variational Principle with Built-In Pure State N-Representability Conditions. The N-Electron Case.- Wigner Distributions as Representations of the Density Matrix.- Inter-Relationships Between Various Representations of One-Matrices and Related Densities: A Road Map and an Example ..- Current Problems in Density Functional Theory.- The Interface Between Reduced Density Matrices and Density Functional Theory.- The Physics Underlying the Langreth-Mehl Scheme for Non-Uniform Systems.- Understanding Energy Differences in Density Functional Theory.- Density Functional Calculations of Molecular Bond Energies.- Non-Local Effects on Atomic and Molecular Correlation Energies Studied with a Gradient-Corrected Density Functional.- An Evaluation of Local Electron Correlation Corrections and Non-Local Exchange Corrections to the Hartree-Fock-Slater Method from Calculations on Bond Energies and Electronic Spectra of Molecular Systems.- Correlation Energy Functionals of One-Matrices and Hartree-Fock Densities.- Some Remarks on Scaling Relations in Density Functional Theory.- Deduction of Semiempirical MO Methods from Density Functional Theory.- Charge and Spin Densities in Molecular Solids: Local Density Functional Calculations Versus Experiment.- A Functional of the Two-Particle Density Matrix for the Approximate Calculation of the Electronic Correlation Energy.- Extracules, Intracules, Correlation Holes, Potentials, Coefficients and All That.- The Exact Schroedinger Equation for the Electron Density.- Adiabatic Separation, Broken Symmetries and Geometry Optimization.- Asymptotic Results for Density Matrices and Electron Density in Atoms and Nearly Spherical Molecules.- An Algorithm for Calculating Isoelectronic Changes in Energies, Densities, and One-Matrices.- Atoms and Ions in the Limit of Large Nuclear Charge.- Improved Thomas-Fermi Theory for Atoms.- A Bond Energy from Quantum Mechanics.- Measured Electron Densities and Band Structure Calculations.- X-ray Orthonormal Orbital Model for Crystallography.
The problem considered is that of the diagonal N -representability of a p th-order reduced density matrix, p ≥ 2 p \geq 2 , for a system of N identical fermions or bosons. A finite number M of allowable single particle states is assumed. The problem is divided into three cases, namely: Case I. M = N + p M = N + p ; Case II. M > N + p M > N + p ; Case III. M > N + p M > N + p . Using the theory of polyhedral convex cones, a complete set of necessary and sufficient conditions is first found for Case I. This solution is then employed to find such conditions for Case II. For Case III, two algorithms are developed to generate solutions for the problem, and examples of the usage of these algorithms are given.
Abstract The N -representability problem places fundamental constraints on reduced density matrices (RDMs) that originate from physical many-fermion quantum states. Motivated by recent developments in functional theories, we introduce a hierarchy of ensemble one-body N -representability problems that incorporate partial knowledge of the one-body RDMs (1RDMs) within an ensemble of N -fermion states with fixed weights w i . Specifically, we propose a systematic relaxation that reduces the refined problem—where full 1RDMs are fixed for certain ensemble elements—to a more tractable form involving only natural occupation number vectors. Remarkably, we show that this relaxed problem is related to a generalization of Horn’s problem, enabling an explicit solution by combining its constraints with those of the weighted ensemble N -representability conditions. An additional convex relaxation yields a convex polytope that provides physically meaningful restrictions on lattice site occupations in ensemble density functional theory for excited states.