Coherent-state path integral calculation of the Wigner function

Details Coherent-state path integral calculation of the Wigner function Coherent-state path integral calculation of the Wigner function

2000-06-05

arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0006021v1

Physics

Quantum Physics

12 pages, 2 figures, to appear J Phys A. Requires IOP style files

Scientific paper

10.1088/0305-4470/33/29/306

We consider a set of operators hat{x}=(hat{x}_1,..., hat{x}_N) with diagonal representatives P(n) in the space of generalized coherent states |n>; hat{x}=int dn P(n) |n>_L over polygonal paths with L vertices {n_1...L}. The distribution of the path centroid bar{P}=(1/L) sum_{i=1}^{L}P(n_i) tends to the Wigner function W(x), the joint distribution for the operators: W(x)=lim_{L->infinity} _{L}. This result is proved in the case where the Hamiltonian commutes with hat{x}. 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 pi. 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.

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