Brody, D C and Hughston, L P. 1998. The quantum canonical ensemble. Journal of Mathematical Physics, 39(12), pp. 6502-6508. ISSN 0022-2488 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

The phase space Γ of quantum mechanics can be viewed as the complex projective space CPn endowed with a Kählerian structure given by the Fubini-Study metric and an associated symplectic form. We can then interpret the Schrödinger equation as generating a Hamiltonian dynamics on Γ. Based upon the geometric structure of the quantum phase space we introduce the corresponding natural microcanonical and canonical ensembles. The resulting density matrix for the canonical Γ-ensemble differs from the density matrix of the conventional approach. As an illustration, the results are applied to the case of a spin one-half particle in a heat bath with an applied magnetic field.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1063/1.532661
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Computing
Dates:	Date Event 19 August 1998 Accepted 18 November 1998 Published Online December 1998 Published
Item ID:	31578
Date Deposited:	10 Mar 2022 09:41
Last Modified:	10 Mar 2022 09:45
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/31578

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