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arXiv:quant-ph/0308119 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and General

Phase-space path-integral calculation of the Wigner function

John H. Samson

Published Oct 8, 2003• 10 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The Wigner function W ( q , p ) is formulated as a phase-space path integral, whereby its sign oscillations can be seen to follow from interference between the geometrical phases of the paths. The approach has similarities to the path-centroid method in the configuration-space path integral. Paths can be classified by the midpoint of their ends; short paths where the midpoint is close to ( q , p ) and which lie in regions of low energy (low P function of the Hamiltonian) will dominate, and the enclosed area will determine the sign of the Wigner function. As a demonstration, the method is applied to a sequence of density matrices interpolating between a Poissonian number distribution and a number state, each member of which can be represented exactly by a discretized path integral with a finite number of vertices. Saddle-point evaluation of these integrals recovers (up to a constant factor) the WKB approximation to the Wigner function of a number state.

DOI
10.1088/0305-4470/36/42/015

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The Wigner function W ( q , p ) is formulated as a phase-space path integral, whereby its sign oscillations can be seen to follow from interference between the geometrical phases of the paths. The approach has similarities to the path-centroid method in the configuration-space path integral. Paths can be classified by the midpoint of their ends; short paths where the midpoint is close to ( q , p ) and which lie in regions of low energy (low P function of the Hamiltonian) will dominate, and the enclosed area will determine the sign of the Wigner function. As a demonstration, the method is applied to a sequence of density matrices interpolating between a Poissonian number distribution and a number state, each member of which can be represented exactly by a discretized path integral with a finite number of vertices. Saddle-point evaluation of these integrals recovers (up to a constant factor) the WKB approximation to the Wigner function of a number state.
We consider a set of operators = ( 1 ,..., N ) with diagonal representatives P ( n ) in the space of generalized coherent states | n ⟩: = ∫dµ( n ) P ( n )| n ⟩⟨ n |. We regularize the coherent-state path integral as a limit of a sequence of averages ⟨ ⟩ L over polygonal paths with L vertices n 1,..., L . The distribution of the path centroid = (1/ L )∑ l = 1 L P ( n l ) tends to the Wigner function W ( x ), the joint distribution for the operators: W ( x ) = lim L →∞ ⟨δ N ( x - )⟩ L . This result is proved in the case where the Hamiltonian commutes with . The Wigner function is non-positive if the dominant paths with path centroid in a certain region have Berry phases close to odd multiples of π. For finite L the path centroid distribution is a Wigner function convolved with a Gaussian of variance inversely proportional to L . The results are illustrated by numerical calculations of the spin Wigner function from SU (2) coherent states. The relevance to the quantum Monte Carlo sign problem is also discussed.
This paper defines path integrals in phase space without using a time-division approach followed by a limiting process, thereby generalizing a similar procedure used in configuration space. This is useful since the path integral approach cannot always be formulated in configuration space (e.g., when the Hamiltonian is arbitrary) but can always be formulated in phase space. The most general Gaussian measure, absorbing the quadratic portion of the functional to be integrated, is constructed, and large classes of path integrals are evaluated with respect to it. Applications are given to the perturbation expansion and the semiclassical (WKB) expansion for arbitrary Hamiltonians.
We develop a path integral representation for the dynamics of quantum systems with a finite-dimensional Hilbert space, formulated entirely within a discrete phase space. Starting from the discrete Wigner function on Zd×Zd{\mathbb{Z}_d} \times {\mathbb{Z}_d}Zd​×Zd​ (ddd an odd prime) and the associated Weyl transform built from generalized displacement operators, we derive an exact kernel that propagates the discrete Wigner function in time and, by iterating its composition law through a short-time approximation, obtain a sum-over-paths expression weighted by a discrete phase-space action -- the natural finite-dimensional counterpart of Marinov's functional. For Hamiltonians linear in the phase-space coordinates and at times strictly commensurate with the lattice, the fluctuation sum collapses to a deterministic shift, realizing the discrete analog of classical Hamiltonian flow. Applying the formalism to one and to two interacting qutrits (d=3d=3d=3), we show that the full entanglement dynamics -- captured by a closed-form linear entropy valid for all times -- requires the coherent contribution of all fluctuation sectors; the boundary-term (mean-field) sector alone fails to reproduce it. For a non-stabilizer Hamiltonian, where the short-time kernel is only approximate, the time-sliced path integral converges to the exact dynamics, including the dynamical generation of Wigner negativity. We discuss implications for the semiclassical simulation of many-body spin systems and for the characterization of non-classicality through Wigner negativity.
Quantum interference and exchange statistical effects can affect the momentum distribution functions making them non-Maxwellian.Such effects may be important in studies of kinetic properties of matter at low temperatures and under extreme conditions.In this work we have generalized the path integral representation for Wigner function to strongly coupled three-dimensional quantum system of particles with Boltzmann and Fermi statistics.In suggested approach the explicit expression for Wigner function was obtained in harmonic approximation and Monte Carlo method allowing numerical calculation of Wigner function, distribution functions and average quantum values has been developed.As alternative more accurate single-momentum approach and related Monte Carlo method have been developed to calculation of the distribution functions of degenerate system of interacting fermions.It allows partially overcoming the well-known sign problem for degenerate Fermi systems.
A quantum state can be written in phase space, but the resulting object is not generally the probability density of a positive stochastic process on ordinary phase space. We spell this out for Wigner dynamics. If a positive phase-space process is required only to reproduce the Born density after integrating over momentum, the requirement fixes only an integrated current; the local drift and diffusion remain underdetermined. If one instead requires all Weyl-ordered expectation values, the phase-space object is fixed to be the Wigner function. For non-quadratic potentials the Wigner--Moyal generator contains higher-order, signed momentum-transfer terms, so it is not the Fokker--Planck generator of a positive Brownian diffusion. The exact Wigner function must therefore be reconstructed, in a stochastic representation, as a weighted empirical measure \[ \FW(\z,t)=\E_{\Pp}[W_tδ(\z-\z_t)], \qquad \z=(q,p), \] rather than the unweighted density of sampled carrier trajectories. With classical Hamiltonian flow as the carrier, all nonclassical correction beyond classical transport sits in the Moyal residual and can be represented by signed weights or branching events. The same split defines a residual diagnostic that vanishes for quadratic Hamiltonians and measures what classical carrier transport misses in anharmonic dynamics. The formulation also gives a forward--reverse relation for signed Wigner path measures. The ratio of forward and reversed contributions separates into a positive magnitude factor and a sign factor. This sign records the parity of the Wigner interference contribution; it is not a thermodynamic entropy production.
The phase space formulation of quantum statistical mechanics using the Feynman path centroid density offers an alternative perspective to the standard Wigner prescription for the classical-like evaluation of equilibrium and/or dynamical quantities of statistical systems. The use of this formulation has been implicit in recent work on quantum rate theories, for example, in which the centroid density distribution replaces the classical Boltzmann distribution. In order to further understand the approximations involved in this and similar transcriptions, the present work elaborates and clarifies the issue of operator ordering in a rigorous centroid-based formulation. In particular, through the use of the Weyl correspondence, a precise definition of the centroid symbol of operators and their products is presented. Though we fall short of finding the algebraic structure tantamount to that found in the Weyl symbols—of which the Wigner distribution is an example— the resulting expressions have internal consistency and are amenable to approximate evaluation through cumulant expansions.