Questions tagged [anticommutator]
The anticommutator tag has no usage guidance.
162
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How to generalize the (anti)commutation for spacelike separation to more than $2$ field operators?
Let $\phi_1$ and $\phi_2$ be quantum field operators of certain spin on $\mathbb{R}^4$. Then, the principle of locality dictates that if $x$ and $y$ are space-like separated, we have
\begin{equation}
\...
3
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2
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449
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Geometry of anticommutation relations
I am asking this question as a mathematician trying to understand quantum theory, so please forgive my naivety.
Systems satisfying the canonical commutation relations are naturally modeled with ...
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1
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95
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Quantization of an Interacting Field Theory
The procedure to quantize free field theories is imposing a commutation/anticommutation relation with the field and its conjugate momentum, as $$\mathcal L = i\bar\psi\gamma^\mu\partial_\mu\psi\...
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Why does $[Q,P]=i\hbar$ work for fermion? Shouldn't fermion satisfy anticommuting relation?
For hydrogen, we use $[Q,P]=i\hbar$ for electron, which is a fermion. Does it have a deeper reason such as that we're really considering the proton + electron system, which might be of bosonic nature?
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Why is commutation bracket used instead of anti-commutation bracket on page 61 of Peskin QFT?
Peskin&Schroeder was performing a trick where they used
$$J_za^{s\dagger}_0|0\rangle=[J_z,a^{s\dagger}_0]|0\rangle\tag{p.61}$$ and claimed that the only non-zero term in this commutator would be ...
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63
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Help with commutator algebra with fermionic operators
I am struggling to understand how the following is true for the fermionic creation/annihilation operators $a^\dagger, a$: $$[a^\dagger a, a]=-a$$
If someone could walk me through the math derivation ...
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49
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The renormalized fermionic operators do not anti-commute?
Let's say we have fermionic operators $a$ and $b$ (which anti-commute). In the context of a renormalization scheme (I am thinking specifically of Wilson's NRG, but it could be DMRG) I have a matrix $P$...
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Anticommutation relations for Dirac field at non-equal times
I'm reading this paper by Alfredo Iorio and I have a doubt concerning the anticommutation relations he uses for the Dirac field.
Around eq. (2.25), he wants to find the unitary operator $U$ that ...
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106
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Why do we only consider commutators and anticommutators in QFT?
While studying canonical quantization in QFT, I observed that we quantize fields either by a commutation or an anticommutation relation
\begin{equation}
[\phi(x), \phi(y)]_\pm := \phi(x) \phi(y) \pm \...
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Relationship between anti-commutators and correlation
Ballentine (in his solution at the back of the book to his Problem 8.10) writes that
$$[Tr(\rho \{A,B\}/2)]^2$$
is related to the correlation between the observables represented by $A,B$, but gives no ...
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Anticommutator Relation of Quantized Fermionic Field and Fermi–Dirac statistics: How are these related?
I'm reading the Wikipedia article about Fermionic field and have some troubles to understand the meaning following phrase:
We impose an anticommutator relation (as opposed to a commutation relation ...
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Can Exceptional Jordan Quantum mechanics model field theory?
Exceptional Jordan Quantum mechanics is an interesting case in which observables are modelled with $3\times3$ Hermitian octonion matrices $\mathbb{J}_3(\mathbb{O})$. There is the Jordan product $A\...
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What is the motivation for the Self-Dual Canonical Anticommutation Relation (CAR) algebra?
What exactly is the motivation for the use of the Self-Dual Canonical Anticommutation Relation (CAR) algebra in the context of infinite lattice systems? Why not remain with the CAR algebra, as both ...
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Why can the commutator of a general expression be replaced by the anti-commutator in the $bc$ CFT theory?
Polchinski states in his equation 2.6.14 (in his book String Theory Vol. 1, Introduction to the Bosonic String) that for charges $Q_1$ and $Q_2$ the following equation holds, where $j_i$ is the ...
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Commutation of kinetic energy operator with Hamiltonian
I am basically trying to calculate current energy operator $\hat{\mathbf{J}}_E(\mathbf{r})$ by using Heisenberg equation of motion as
$$
-\nabla\cdot \hat{\mathbf{J}}_E(\mathbf{r})=\frac{i}{\hbar}[H,\...
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267
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Anti-commutator of angular momentum operators for arbitrary spin
I know the commutator of angular momentum operators are
$$
[J_i,J_j]=\mathrm i\hbar \varepsilon_{ijk}J_k.
$$
For spin-1/2 particles, $J_i=\frac\hbar2\sigma_i$ where $\sigma_i$ are Pauli matrices, and ...
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Contour integral for commutator of fermionic fields
Suppose we have primary fields $A$ and $B$ which have the OPE,
$$A(z) B(w) = \frac{1}{z-w} = -B(z)A(w), \quad |z| > |w|,\tag{1}$$
so they have fermionic statistics. Now I was curious how this would ...
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About the Hilbert space that carries the representation of $\{\psi (x), \bar{\psi (y) }\}=i\delta (x-y) $?
What is this Hilbert space? Is it the complex Hilbert space of wavefunctionals spanned by using the spinor-field configurations as the basis vectors?
I know that the wavefunctional space carries a ...
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Dirac spinor field anti-commutation
I am thinking the anti-commutation property of Dirac field! First, note that the equal time anti-commutation relation (from P&S's QFT):
$$\{ \psi_a(\mathbf{x}),\psi_b^{\dagger}(\mathbf{y}) \}=\...
3
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116
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Can Hadamard's formula be used for fermionic operators?
Can I use this special case of Hadamard's formula
$$e^\hat B \hat A e^{-\hat B}= A + [B,A]+\frac{1}{2!}[B, [B,A]] + \dots$$
for fermionic operators?
Suppose I have fermionic operators that obey ...
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Adding a surface term to Dirac action modifies the canonical anticommutation relations [duplicate]
I'm dealing with the following issue: when describing a fermionic field, one can use the typical Dirac Lagrangian $$\mathcal{L}=\bar\psi(i\gamma^\mu\partial_\mu-m)\psi,\tag{1}$$ or the more symmetric ...
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Why do fermions anti-commute in Ising model?
In my course fermions are given like a product of spin and (dual to spin) disorder parameter in 2D Ising square lattice. Then, using the properties of disorder parameter I can prove that fermions ...
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Where do arbitrary phases of wavefunctions go under second-quantization?
As far as I understand, a second-quantized operator in QFT or condensed matter represents a many-body wavefunction (symmetrized for bosons or antisymmetrized for fermions). But every wavefunction is ...
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Electron fields does not anticommute at space-like points
In the end of page 804 and beginning of page 805 of Streater's paper
Outline of axiomatic relativistic quantum field theory
which can be find here https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0034-4885/...
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Can the operator field Dirac equation be expressed as Heisenberg's equation?
The Dirac equation of the operator spinor field is:
$$(i\gamma ^{\mu}\partial _{\mu} -m)\psi =0$$
where $\psi$ is interpreted to be a quantum field.
I'm wondering, can this be derived from the ...
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471
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Anticommutation relations for fermionic operators in Fock space
In second quantization, creation and annihilation operators are defined on Fock space as follows:
\begin{align}
\begin{cases}a_j^\dagger|n_1,n_2,...,n_j,...\rangle=\xi^{s_j}\sqrt{n_j+1}|n_1,n_2,...,...
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Is there a Stone-von-Neumann theorem-like result for the canonical anti-commutation relations (CAR)?
The canonical commutation relation (CCR)
$$[\phi(x), \pi(y)] = i\hbar\delta(x-y)$$
is kind of the key to basically any bosonic quantum theory. This is due to many different remarkable properties: By ...
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153
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Which of these commutation relations are correct? [closed]
I saw, in two different references, the following two commutation relations for the fermionic field operator:
and
which one of them is correct?
1 "Stefanucci, Gianluca, and Robert Van Leeuwen. ...
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70
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Anticommutation and Bogoliubove transformation
I am given the following transformation:
\begin{equation}
\begin{bmatrix}
...
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What is the physical meaning of the anticommutator of two observables? [duplicate]
It is quite clear to me that when two operators commute it implies that two different observables associated with the respective operators can be measured simultaneously with the exact accuracy. But ...
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Spinor index, dirac field equation
Sometimes I read anticommute
$$\{\psi(x),\psi^\dagger(y)\}=\delta^{(3)}(x-y)$$
Sometimes,
$$\{\psi_a(x),\psi_b^\dagger(y)\}=\delta^{(3)}(x-y)\delta_{ab}$$
Are they the same, second one just emphasis ...
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113
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Do fermionic creation/annihilation anticommutation relations fix the creation and annihilation operators?
If you define operators $a, a^\dagger$ which satisfy (e.g.) the relations $\{a,a\}=\{a^\dagger,a^\dagger\}=0$ and $\{a,a^\dagger\}=1$.
Will this uniquely define the operators such that $a |0\rangle \...
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2
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Electron pair operators and anticommutation relations [closed]
Fermions creation and annihilation operators obey the anti-commutation relations given by:
$$ \{ c_{\bf{k} \sigma} , c^{+}_{\bf{k'} \sigma'} \} = \delta_{\bf{k}\bf{k'}}\delta_{\sigma\sigma'}
\\
\{ c_{...
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Anticommutation relation for the Weyl spinors in Minkowski space+time
For $D$-dimensional Minkowski space+time, I suppose that the Dirac spinor has the following anticommutation relation:
$$
\{ \psi(x_1), \psi(x_2)\}=\{ \psi^\dagger(x_1), \psi^\dagger(x_2)\}=0
$$
$$
\{ \...
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193
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Anti-commutation relation for gamma matrices; when/why did the definition change?
The anti-commutation relation defining gamma matrices is presently given by
$$\gamma^\mu \gamma^\nu + \gamma^\nu \gamma^\mu = 2g^{\mu\nu}$$
where appears the matric tensor (see for instance the ...
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56
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From Fermions to CAR
I do not understand why Fermions statistic is equivalent to the CAR. In other words, suppose we have $\{a_i\}_i$ set of Fermionic operators acting on an Hilbert space, they satisfy the Canonical ...
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264
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How should I imagine a spinor commutator, or consecutive occurences of $\bar{\Psi}$ and $\Psi$ in general?
I'm having a hard time making sense of an expression like
$$\left[\Psi(x), \bar{\Psi}(y)\right].$$
Up until now I imagined a spinor operator to be something like a column vector of operators, ...
2
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337
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Proof involving exponential of anticommuting operators
Problem:
On page 23 of the book "Quarks, gluons and lattices" by Creutz, he defines a state
$$\langle\psi|=\langle 0|e^{bFc}e^{\lambda b^\dagger G c^\dagger}$$
where $\lambda$ is a number, $...
2
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1
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207
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Are there any 3 or more Hermitian solutions to the problem: $\alpha_i^2=1$, $\{\alpha_i, \alpha_j \}=2$
I’m trying to generate some matrices which are similar to Pauli’s but with the following anti-commutation relation
$$\{\alpha_i, \alpha_j\}=\alpha_i \alpha_j + \alpha_j \alpha_i = 2 \tag{1}$$
And
$$\...
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Commuting but not anti-commuting operators
Two Hermitian operators $\hat{A}$ and $\hat{B}$ are such that they commute but don't anti-commute. In this case, even they commute their uncertainty product will not be zero, is it right?
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Derivation of anti-commutation relations of massive supermultiplet generators [closed]
In almost all intro to supersymmetry notes the commutation relations are given between the generators and their conjugates however, I can not find any proofs of them anywhere and am struggling to ...
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266
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Defining particles by their commutation/anti-commutation relations
In my studies of many-body physics, I have encountered three types of particles, which can be defined based on their commutation/anti-commutation relations.
Fermions, defined by raising/lowering ...
2
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1
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504
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Right derivative of Grassmann number and associated anti-commutation relation
I am reading chapter 3 of Anomalies in quantum field theory by Reinhold Bertlmann and I found one statement that I don't know how to prove. First of all he defined the right derivative on the ...
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On the normal ordering of Fermi fields
From my understanding, the normal ordering of Klein-Gordon fields in QFT is valid because of the ambiguity that comes with quantizing a classical theory, in the sense that the conmutator of fields is ...
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325
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Pauli Exclusion Princple for a fermion and antifermion
I understand that the Pauli Exclusion Principle applies only for identical particles, so that a fermion and an anti-fermion should be allowed to be in the same state. However, when I look at the ...
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351
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Anti-commutator of Dirac matrices
Consider $$ \beta = \begin{pmatrix} \mathbf{1} & 0 \\ 0 & -\mathbf{1} \end{pmatrix},\quad \alpha_i = \begin{pmatrix} 0 & \mathbf{\sigma}_i \\ \mathbf{\sigma}_i&0 \end{pmatrix}.$$ The ...
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261
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(Anti)commutation of creation and annhilation operators for different fermion fields
The Fourier expansion of the fermion field operator is such that
$$ \hat\psi=\int\!d^3p\,\left[ f_b(p)\hat b(p) +f_d(p)\hat d^\dagger\!(p) \right] ~~, $$
for some sufficiently complicated $f_b$ and $...
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Measurements, QFT and Wightman's axiom 3
I think I might have misconceptions about the conceptual core of QFT. Let me explain where I am puzzled.
In QM, the measurement process is accounted by the postulate of collapse of the wave function: ...
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194
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Show $[\gamma^\mu,\eta^{\nu\lambda}I]=0$ for Dirac matrices
I am trying to show the following commutation relation for the Dirac matrices $\gamma^\mu$ and the metric $\eta^{\nu\lambda}$: $$2[\gamma^\mu,\eta^{\nu\lambda}I]=0$$
where $I$ is the 4x4 identity ...
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480
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What is a fermionic field theory?
Let $\mathscr{H}$ be a Hilbert space and $\mathscr{H}^{n}$ be the associated $n$-fold tensor product of this Hilbert space. I'll skip the mathematical details in what follows, but my approach follows ...