Density operator, an operator used to describe (mixed) quantum states. A density operator [1–6], also called statistical operator or – somehow misleading – density matrix, is a positive trace-class ► operator ρ of trace 1 acting in some separable complex
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Primary Literature
H. Weyl: Gruppentheorie und Quantenmechanik (Hirzel, Leipzig 1928, second edition 1931); English The Theory of Groups and Quantum Mechanics (Dutten, New York 1931)
J. von Neumann: Mathematische Grundlagen der Quantenmechanik (Springer, Berlin 1932, reprint 1968); English Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (Princeton University Press, Princeton 1955)
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W. Stulpe: Classical Representations of Quantum Mechanics Related to Statistically Complete Observables (Wissenschaft und Technik Verlag, Berlin 1997; quant-ph/0610122), p. 91
M. Reed and B. Simon: Methods of Modern Mathematical Physics I: Functional Analysis (Academic, New York 1972, second edition 1980)
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Stulpe, W. (2009). Density Operator. In: Greenberger, D., Hentschel, K., Weinert, F. (eds) Compendium of Quantum Physics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-70626-7_52
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