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Normal Ordering and Abnormal Nonsense

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Abstract

The technique of the normal ordering of non-commuting operators is an important tool in the solution of problems involving creation and annihilation operators in quantum physics, such as in many-body theory or quantum optics. We point out the inconsistencies in previous definitions of the two standard normal ordering procedures for such operators, and show how consistent definitions may be made.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK76AA, UK

    Allan I. Solomon

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  1. Allan I. Solomon
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Correspondence to Allan I. Solomon.

Additional information

The author acknowledges with gratitude valuable discussions with Gérard Duchamp, Karol Penson, Pawel Blasiak and Andrzej Horzela.

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Solomon, A.I. Normal Ordering and Abnormal Nonsense. Found Phys 40, 684–691 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-009-9325-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-009-9325-6

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