Article
Article
- Physics
- Quantum mechanics
- Density matrix
- Physics
- Statistical mechanics
- Density matrix
Density matrix
Article By:
Liu, S. H. Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.186100
- Diagonal elements
- Observables
- Pure and mixed states
- Eigenvalues and eigenvectors
- Liouville equation
- Effect of measurement
- Perturbations
- Related Primary Literature
- Additional Reading
A matrix which is constructed as the most general statistical description of the states of a many-particle quantum-mechanical system. The state of a quantum system is described by a normalized wave function ψ(x,t) [where x stands for all coordinates of the system, and t for the time], which satisfies the Schrödinger equation (1),
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