SECOND QUANTIZING OPERATORS - EXAMPLES

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Reference: Tom Lancaster and Stephen J. Blundell, Quantum Field The-
ory for the Gifted Amateur, (Oxford University Press, 2014), Section 4.2.
We’ve seen that we can second quantize a single-particle operator Aˆ
using creation and annihilation operators to get the multi-particle version:

(1) Â = ∑ Aαβ a†α aβ

α,β

Using this result, we can get second quantized versions of some common
operators. The unit operator is

(2) 1̂ = ∑ |γi hγ|

γ

so
*   +

    
(3) α 1̂ β = α ∑ |γi hγ| β
 
γ 
(4) = ∑ δαγ δγβ
γ
(5) = δαβ

so the multi-particle version is

(6) n̂ = ∑ a†α aα
α

Since a†α aα is the number operator, it counts the number of particles in

state α so n̂ gives the total number of particles in the multi-particle state.
[I’m still not clear as to whether this result is supposed to apply to states
where there are more than one particle in a given momentum state. The
derivation of 1 appears to assume that each particle is in a different single-
particle state, so it seems safer to assume that a†α aα can return only 0 or
1.]
1
 SECOND QUANTIZING OPERATORS - EXAMPLES 2

For the momentum operator (we’re still looking at the particle in a box,
so momentum states are still discrete) we have

(7) p̂ |pi = p |pi

(8) hq |p̂| pi = p hq |p i
(9) = pδqp
The multi-particle version is therefore

(10) p̂ = ∑ pδqpa†qap
q,p

(11) = ∑ pa†pap
p

We can extend this result to functions of momentum f (p). First, we look

at powers of the momentum operator, where we can use induction to prove
that (p̂)n |pi = pn |pi. We know this is true for n = 1 so assume it’s true for
n − 1. Then

(12) (p̂)n |pi = p̂ (p̂)n−1 |pi

(13) = pn−1 p̂ |pi
(14) = pn |pi

QED. That is, |pi is an eigenvector of (p̂)n with eigenvalue pn .

Now if the function f (p̂) can be expanded in powers of p̂ then

(15) f (p̂) = f0 + f1 p̂ + f2 (p̂)2 + . . .

where the fi are constants. Now|pi is an eigenvector of the term fi (p̂)i in

the series with eigenvalue pi . In other words, we’re replacing a series in the
operator p̂ with an identical series in its eigenvalue, so

(16) f (p̂) |pi = f (p) |pi

(17) hq | f (p̂)| pi = f (p) hq |pi
(18) = f (p) δqp
Therefore the second-quantized version of f (p̂) is
 SECOND QUANTIZING OPERATORS - EXAMPLES 3

(19) Â = ∑ f (p) a†pap

p
(20) = ∑ f (p) n̂p
p

The interpretation is that the operator f acts separately on each particle

with the total result being the sum of its values for all particles.
For example, the hamiltonian for a single free particle is Ĥ = p̂2 /2m so
the hamiltonian for a collection of free particles is

p2
(21) Ĥ = ∑ n̂p
p 2m
The potential energy is usually given as a function of position, so using
the momentum eigenfunction |pi = √1 e−ip·x (where V is the volume of
V
the box) we have from 1
ˆ
1
d 3 x eiq·xV (x) e−ip·x

  
(22) q V̂  p =
V
ˆ
1
(23) = d 3 x e−i(p−q)·xV (x)
V
(24) ≡ Ṽp−q
The potential can then be second quantized as

(25) V̂ = ∑ Ṽp−q a†p aq

p,q

Example. Suppose we have a 3 state system with a hamiltonian

3 h i
(26) Ĥ = E0 ∑ a†i ai +W † † † † † †
a1 a2 − a1 a3 + a2 a1 + a2 a3 − a3 a1 + a3 a2
i=1
(27) ≡ T +V

where T is the kinetic energy (the first term) and V is the potential energy
(the second term). T is diagonal but V is not; we can see the effect of V on
the basis states |100i, |010i and |001i by observing that a†1 a2 |010i = |100i
(annihilate state 2 and create state 1), a†1 a2 |100i = 0 (no particle in state 2
so annihilation of state 2 produces 0) and so on.
 SECOND QUANTIZING OPERATORS - EXAMPLES 4

(28) V |100i = W (|010i − |001i)

(29) V |010i = W (|100i + |001i)
(30) V |001i = W (− |100i + |010i)
We can write the hamiltonian as a matrix

(31) Ĥ = T +V
   
1 0 0 0 1 −1
(32) = E0  0 1 0  +W  1 0 1 
0 0 1 −1 1 0

In this form, for example, 28 would be written as

    
0 1 −1 1 0
(33) V |100i = W  1 0 1   0  = W  1 
−1 1 0 0 −1
Finding the energies and eigenstates of this hamiltonian means we need
to find the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of Ĥ, which turn out to be

(34) E = E0 +W, E0 +W, E0 − 2W

The ground state |Ωi (assuming W > 0) has energy E0 − 2W and its
eigenvector is

1
(35) |Ωi = √ (|100i − |010i + |001i)
3
The other energy level E0 +W is doubly degenerate and its 2-d space of
eigenvectors is spanned by

1 1
(36) √ (− |100i + |001i) , √ (|100i + |010i)
2 2