Statistical ensembles and density of states

We propose a definition of microcanonical and canonical statistical ensembles based on the concept of density of states. This definition applies both to the classical and the quantum case. For the microcanonical case this allows for a definition of a temperature and its fluctuation, which might be useful in the theory of mesoscopic systems. In the quantum case the concept of density of states applies to one-particle Schroedinger operators, in particular to operators with a periodic potential or to random Anderson type models. In the case of periodic potentials we show that for the resulting $n$-particle system the density of states is $[(n-1)/2]$ times differentiable, such that like for classical microcanonical ensembles a (positive) temperature may be defined whenever $n\geq 5$. We expect that a similar result should also hold for Anderson type models. We also provide the first terms in asymptotic expansions of thermodynamic quantities at large energies for the microcanonical ensemble and at large temperatures for the canonical ensemble. A comparison shows that then both formulations asymptotically give the same results.Comment: MSC-class: 47A40, 82B10 (Primary) 82B05, 82D20 (Secondary

On the Lipschitz continuity of the integrated density of states for sign-indefinite potentials

The present paper is devoted to the study of spectral properties of random Schroedinger operators. Using a finite section method for Toeplitz matrices, we prove a Wegner estimate for some alloy type models where the single site potential is allowed to change sign. The results apply to the corresponding discrete model, too. In certain disorder regimes we are able to prove the Lipschitz continuity of the integrated density of states and/or localization near spectral edges.Comment: Uses epic and eepic style

Kirchhoff's Rule for Quantum Wires. II: The Inverse Problem with Possible Applications to Quantum Computers

In this article we continue our investigations of one particle quantum scattering theory for Schroedinger operators on a set of connected (idealized one-dimensional) wires forming a graph with an arbitrary number of open ends. The Hamiltonian is given as minus the Laplace operator with suitable linear boundary conditions at the vertices (the local Kirchhoff law). In ``Kirchhoff's rule for quantum wires'' [J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 32, 595 - 630 (1999)] we provided an explicit algebraic expression for the resulting (on-shell) S-matrix in terms of the boundary conditions and the lengths of the internal lines and we also proved its unitarity. Here we address the inverse problem in the simplest context with one vertex only but with an arbitrary number of open ends. We provide an explicit formula for the boundary conditions in terms of the S-matrix at a fixed, prescribed energy. We show that any unitary $n\times n$ matrix may be realized as the S-matrix at a given energy by choosing appropriate (unique) boundary conditions. This might possibly be used for the design of elementary gates in quantum computing. As an illustration we calculate the boundary conditions associated to the unitary operators of some elementary gates for quantum computers and raise the issue whether in general the unitary operators associated to quantum gates should rather be viewed as scattering operators instead of time evolution operators for a given time associated to a quantum mechanical Hamiltonian.Comment: 16 page

Quantum wires with magnetic fluxes

In the present article magnetic Laplacians on a graph are analyzed. We provide a complete description of the set of all operators which can be obtained from a given self-adjoint Laplacian by perturbing it by magnetic fields. In particular, it is shown that generically this set is isomorphic to a torus. We also describe the conditions under which the operator is unambiguously (up to unitary equivalence) defined by prescribing the magnetic fluxes through all loops of the graph

The singularly continuous spectrum and non-closed invariant subspaces

Let $\mathbf{A}$ be a bounded self-adjoint operator on a separable Hilbert space $\mathfrak{H}$ and $\mathfrak{H}_0\subset\mathfrak{H}$ a closed invariant subspace of $\mathbf{A}$. Assuming that $\mathfrak{H}_0$ is of codimension 1, we study the variation of the invariant subspace $\mathfrak{H}_0$ under bounded self-adjoint perturbations $\mathbf{V}$ of $\mathbf{A}$ that are off-diagonal with respect to the decomposition $\mathfrak{H}= \mathfrak{H}_0\oplus\mathfrak{H}_1$. In particular, we prove the existence of a one-parameter family of dense non-closed invariant subspaces of the operator $\mathbf{A}+\mathbf{V}$ provided that this operator has a nonempty singularly continuous spectrum. We show that such subspaces are related to non-closable densely defined solutions of the operator Riccati equation associated with generalized eigenfunctions corresponding to the singularly continuous spectrum of $\mathbf{B}$