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author | Prefetch | 2021-02-21 10:46:28 +0100 |
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committer | Prefetch | 2021-02-21 10:46:28 +0100 |
commit | 6fb3b28a2ce91b8f12683692cbe32d9a4d35fc9d (patch) | |
tree | 77ebb44da3cb32be5a7cfd1f4c81043c31d450fb /latex/know/concept/slater-determinant | |
parent | 5886ab5885899d1c432420a7198c454ba2b43d5a (diff) |
Add "Slater determinant" + improvements to knowledge base
Diffstat (limited to 'latex/know/concept/slater-determinant')
-rw-r--r-- | latex/know/concept/slater-determinant/source.md | 43 |
1 files changed, 43 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/latex/know/concept/slater-determinant/source.md b/latex/know/concept/slater-determinant/source.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5d13c56 --- /dev/null +++ b/latex/know/concept/slater-determinant/source.md @@ -0,0 +1,43 @@ +% Slater determinant + + +# Slater determinant + +In quantum mechanics, the **Slater determinant** is a trick to create an +antisymmetric wave function for a system of $N$ fermions. + +Given an orthogonal set of individual states $\psi_n(x)$, we write +$\psi_n(x_n)$ to say that particle $x_n$ is in state $\psi_n$. Now the +goal is to find an expression for an overall many-particle wave +function $\Psi(x_1, ..., x_N)$ that satisfies the +[Pauli exclusion principle](/know/concept/pauli-exclusion-principle/). +Enter the Slater determinant: + +$$\begin{aligned} + \boxed{ + \Psi(x_1, ..., x_N) + = \frac{1}{\sqrt{N!}} \det\! + \begin{bmatrix} + \psi_1(x_1) & \cdots & \psi_N(x_1) \\ + \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ + \psi_1(x_N) & \cdots & \psi_N(x_N) + \end{bmatrix} + }\end{aligned}$$ + +Swapping the state of two particles corresponds to exchanging two rows +in the matrix, which flips the sign of the determinant. Similarly, +exchanging two columns means swapping two states, which also results in +a sign change. Finally, putting two particles into the same state makes +$\Psi$ vanish. + +Note that not all valid many-particle fermionic wave functions can be +written as a single Slater determinant; a linear combination of multiple +may be needed. Nevertheless, an appropriate choice of the input set +$\psi_n(x)$ can optimize how well a single determinant approximates a +given $\Psi$. + +In fact, there exists a similar trick for bosons, where the goal is to +create a symmetric wave function which allows multiple particles to +occupy the same state. In this case, one needs to take the **Slater +permanent** of the same matrix, which is simply the determinant, but with +all minuses replaced by pluses. |