arXiv:1712.03840v2 [cond-mat.

stat-mech] 18 May 2018

Calculating eigenvalues of many-body systems from

partition functions

Chi-Chun Zhou and Wu-Sheng Dai∗

Department of Physics, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300350, P.R. China

Abstract: A method for calculating the eigenvalue of a many-body system without solving
the eigenfunction is suggested. In many cases, we only need the knowledge of eigenvalues
rather than eigenfunctions, so we need a method solving only the eigenvalue, leaving alone
the eigenfunction. In this paper, the method is established based on statistical mechanics.
In statistical mechanics, calculating thermodynamic quantities needs only the knowledge of
eigenvalues and then the information of eigenvalues is embodied in thermodynamic quan-
tities. The method suggested in the present paper is indeed a method for extracting the
eigenvalue from thermodynamic quantities. As applications, we calculate the eigenvalues
for some many-body systems. Especially, the method is used to calculate the quantum
exchange energies in quantum many-body systems. Using the method, we also calculate
the influence of the topological effect on eigenvalues. Moreover, we improve the result of
the relation between the counting function and the heat kernel in literature.

∗
daiwusheng@tju.edu.cn.
Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Calculating eigenvalues from partition functions 4

3 Illustration of the method 5

3.1 A particle in a box 5
3.2 One harmonic oscillator 6
3.3 N bosonic harmonic oscillators 7
3.3.1 Calculating eigenvalues from partition functions 7

4 Noninteracting identical particles in a box: exchange energies 10

5 Noninteracting identical particles in external fields 12

6 Influences of topologies on eigenvalues 13

6.1 Non-interacting classical particles in a two-dimensional nontrivial topological
box 13
6.2 Non-interacting quantum particles in a two-dimensional nontrivial topologi-
cal box 14

7 Interacting classical many-body systems with the Lennard-Jones interac-

tion 14

8 Interacting quantum many-body systems with hard-sphere interactions 15

9 The one-dimensional Ising model 17

9.1 The Ising model without interactions 17
9.2 The Ising model with nearest-neighbour interactions 18

10 The one-dimensional Potts model 18

11 Conclusions 20

A The relation between counting functions and heat kernels 20

1 Introduction

Calculating the eigenvalue of a many-body system is often difficult. The most direct way
is to solve the eigenequation of the Hamiltonian H,

H |φn i = En |φn i . (1.1)

–1–
Once the eigenequation is solved, both the eigenvalue En and the eigenfunction φn are
solved simultaneously. Nevertheless, often one only needs the knowledge of eigenvalues
{En } rather than eigenfunctions. In such cases, solving eigenfunctions is redundant. This
inspires us to develop an approach which only focus on solving eigenvalues.
Statistical mechanics is essentially an averaging method. In statistical mechanics the
information of eigenfunctions is statistically averaged out; calculating thermodynamic quan-
tities needs only eigenvalues. For example, in canonical ensembles, all the thermodynamic
property of an N -particle system is embodied in the canonical partition function which is
determined only by eigenvalues {En }:
X
Z (β) = e−βEn , (1.2)
n
1
where β = kT with k the Boltzmann constant and T the temperature.
The knowledge of eigenvalues is embodied in the canonical partition function Z (β).
Our problem is how to extract the eigenvalue En from the partition function (1.2), or, more
generally, from thermodynamic quantities.
The canonical partition function (1.2), from another perspective, is the global heat
kernel of the Hamiltonian operator H. The global heat kernel
X
K (t) = e−tEn (1.3)
n

is the trace of the local heat kernel which is the Green function of the initial-value problem of
the heat-type equation [1]. Obviously, the global heat kernel is just the canonical partition
function with the replacement t → β.
Recently, a relation between the heat kernel and the spectral counting function is
revealed [2, 3]. The counting function N (E) counts the number of the eigenstates whose
eigenvalues are smaller than E. The relation between the heat kernel and the counting
function allows us to calculate the counting function N (E) from the heat kernel K (t), or,
the canonical partition function Z (β), directly.
The eigenvalue can be calculated from the counting function N (E) [2]. This implies
that one can calculate the eigenvalue from the canonical partition function Z (β) or other
thermodynamic quantities.
It is often difficult to calculate the eigenvalue of noninteracting quantum systems and
interacting classical and quantum systems. In noninteracting quantum systems, there exist
quantum exchange interactions; in classical interacting systems, there exist classical inter-
particle interactions, and in quantum interacting systems, there exist both classical inter-
particle interactions and quantum exchange interactions [4]. The method developed in the
present paper allows us to calculated eigenvalues from the thermodynamic quantity which
is obtained by the statistical mechanical method.
In quantum many-body systems, the most important factor is the quantum exchange
interaction. The effect of quantum exchange interaction in eigenvalue is the exchange en-
ergy. In statistical mechanics, the quantum exchange effect is taken into account by simply
employing Bose-Einstein statistics, Fermi-Dirac statistics, and various kinds of intermedi-
ate statistics through imposing various maximum occupation numbers: ∞ for Bose-Einstein

–2–
statistics, 1 for Fermi-Dirac statistics, and an integer n for Gentile statistics [5–12]. The
method suggested in the present paper allows us to calculate the exchange energy in eigen-
values from the partition function obtained in statistical mechanics. In other words, we
can calculate the exchange energy in virtue of the statistical mechanics. For example, in
quantum ideal and interacting gases, the contribution of the exchange energy to the eigen-
value is represented by the second virial coefficient which can be obtained by statistical
mechanical method.
In quantum mechanics, the exchange energy is reckoned in by symmetrizing or anti-
symmetrizing the wavefunctions, in quantum filed theory, the exchange energy is reckoned
in by imposing the quantization condition on the fields, while, in statistical mechanics, the
exchange energy is reckoned in by only simply setting the value of the maximum occupa-
tion number, since in statistical mechanics only the information of eigenvalues other than
the information of wavefunctions is needed. That is to say, in statistical mechanics, the
exchange energy can be calculated relatively simply. Therefore, calculating the exchange
energy through statistical mechanics is a more simple approach.
Moreover, using the method, we calculate the influence of the topological effect on
eigenvalues for two-dimensional non-interacting classical and quantum systems. In two-
dimensional systems, the topological property is described by connectivity which is de-
scribed by the Euler-Poincaré characteristic number [13].
In statistical mechanics, there are many solved models, in which the partition functions
are solved exactly or approximately. Using the method, we calculate the eigenvalues for such
models from the solved partition functions. In this paper, we consider classical and quantum
non-interacting systems, classical interacting systems with the Lennard-Jones interaction
and quantum interacting systems with the hard-sphere interaction, the one-dimensional
Ising models, and the one-dimensional Potts model.
There are many studies devoted to the problem of eigenvalue spectra, such as the
eigenvalue spectrum of the Rabi model [14], the eigenvalue spectrum of the open spin-1/2
XXZ quantum chains with non-diagonal boundary terms [15], the eigenvalue spectrum of
the antiperiodic spin-1/2 XXZ quantum chains [16], the statistical property of the eigenvalue
spectrum [17, 18], the structure of the eigenvalue spectrum [19, 20], the ground-state energy
of the Heisenberg-Ising lattice [21], the ground state and the excited state of many-body
localized Hamiltonians [22], and the ground state energy of a system of N bosons [23].
In statistical mechanics, many methods are developed for the calculation of partition
functions. For example, the canonical partition function for quon statistics [24], general
formulas for the canonical partition function of parastatistical systems [25], the canonical
partition function of the freely jointed chain model [26], the partition function of the inter-
acting calorons ensemble [27], the algorithm for computing the exact partition function of
lattice polymer models [28], the exact partition function for the q-state Potts Model [29],
the partition function for the antiferromagnetic Ising model and the hard-core models [30],
and the canonical partition functions for different gaseous systems [31] are investigated.
The relation between the counting function and the heat kernel is the basics of the
method used in the present paper. However, the relation given by Ref. [2] neglects a
special case. In this paper, we improve the result in Ref. [2].

–3–
 This paper is organized as follows. In section 2, we describe the method of calculating
the eigenvalue from the canonical partition function. In section 3, we illustrate the method
by examples. In sections 4 and 5, we calculate the eigenvalue, especially the exchange
energy, of identical particles in a box and in an external field. In section 6, we calculate
the influence of the topological effect on eigenvalues. In sections 7 and 8, we calculate the
eigenvalue of interacting particles with the Lennard-Jones potential and the hard-sphere
potential. In sections 9 and 10, we calculate the eigenvalues of the Ising system and the
Potts system. Conclusions are summarized in section 11. In the appendix, we provide a
complete result for the relation between the counting function and the heat kernel.

2 Calculating eigenvalues from partition functions

In mechanics, all the dynamical informations are embodied in the Hamiltonian H.

When regarding a many-body system as a mechanical system, one describes the system
by the solution of the eigenequation H |φn i = En |φn i. The solution of the eigenfunction, the
eigenvalues En and the eigenvectors |φn i, contains all the informations of the Hamiltonian
H. In fact, the Hamiltonian H can be reconstructed by the spectral representation as
P
H = n En |φn i hφn |.
When solving an eigenequation is difficult, we can regard a many-body system as a
thermodynamic system paying the price of losing the information of the eigenvectors |φn i.
A thermodynamic system can be completely described by, e.g., in canonical ensembles, the
partition function Z (β) = tr e−βH . In a thermodynamic description, only the information
is taken into account and the information of the wavefunction are averaged out.
In a word, any mechanical system corresponds a thermodynamic system which reserves
only the information of eigenvalues. Although the information of the wavefunction is lost in
the thermodynamic description, the information of eigenvalues remains. If we can extract
the information of eigenvalues from the thermodynamic quantity, we arrive at an approach
solving only eigenvalues without solving wavefunctions in the meantime. In this section, we
show how to calculate the eigenvalue of a system from the corresponding canonical partition
function in statistical mechanics.
For an eigenvalue spectrum {En }, the spectral counting function N (E) describes how
many eigenstates whose eigenvalues are smaller than E. In Refs. [2, 3], a relation between
the spectral counting function N (E) and the global heat kernel K (t) is given: N (E) =
1
R c+i∞ K(t) tE
2πi c−i∞ t e dt. By the relation between the global heat kernel K (t) and the canonical
partition function Z (β), we can calculate the counting function N (E) from the canonical
partition function Z (β):

c+i∞
1 Z (β) βE
Z
N (E) = e dβ. (2.1)
2πi c−i∞ β

The n-th eigenvalue En can be obtained from the counting function by the equation
[32]
N (En ) = n. (2.2)

–4–
Consequently, the eigenvalue En can be solved by the following equation:
c+i∞
1 Z (β) βEn
Z
e dβ = n. (2.3)
2πi c−i∞ β

In the following, we solve eigenvalues for some many-body systems from the corre-
sponding canonical partition functions.
In should be emphasized that, in the relation between the counting function and the
heat kernel (canonical partition function), Eq. (2.1), there is a constant term − 12 when
E = En , (see Appendix A). We will not take the contribution into account, because its
influence is often small enough to be ignored, especially for highly-excited states, .

3 Illustration of the method

In this section, we illustrate the method by some models whose eigenvalues are already
known, including a particle in a box, a harmonic oscillator, and N bosonic harmonic oscil-
lators.

3.1 A particle in a box

A particle in a box in quantum mechanics corresponds to a classical ideal gas confined in a
box in statistical mechanics.
In the following, we illustrate the method by calculating the eigenvalue of a particle in
a box in virtue of the canonical partition function of a classical ideal gas confined in a box.
In classical ideal gases, there are no classical inter-particle interactions and quantum
exchange interactions. The canonical partition function of a classical ideal gas consisting
of N particles is [33]
Z (β) = z N (β) , (3.1)

where z (β) is the single-particle partition function. The single-particle partition function
for free particles is [33]
V
z (β) = D , (3.2)
λ
q
β
where λ = h 2πm is the thermal wavelength with m the mass of the particle and h the
Planck constant, V is the volume of the container, and D is the spatial dimension. The
canonical partition function of an N -particle classical ideal gas, by Eqs. (3.2) and (3.1), is
then
V N
 
Z (β) = . (3.3)
λD
By the relation between the counting function N (λ) and the canonical partition func-
tion Z (β), Eq. (2.1), we can obtain the counting function,

2πm DN/2
 
 
cl N 1  DN/2
N En = V Encl , (3.4)
h2 Γ (1 + DN/2)

–5–
where Γ (x) is the Gamma function. The eigenvalue is determined by the equation obtained
by substituting Eq. (3.4) into Eq. (2.2):
2πm DN/2
 
N 1  DN/2
V Encl = n. (3.5)
h2 Γ (1 + DN/2)
Solving the equation gives the eigenvalue
h2
 
DN
Encl = Γ 2/(DN )
1+ n2/(DN ) . (3.6)
2πmV 2/D 2
Now let us see a familiar special case: the one-dimensional single-particle case. In this
case, D = 1, N = 1, and V = L. Eq. (3.6) then becomes
 h2  n 2
Encl  = . (3.7)

N =1 8m L
This is just the eigenvalue of a particle in a one-dimensional periodic box with a side length
L. In a one-dimensional periodic box with a side length L, the momentum of the particle
h
is pn = 2L n, so the eigenvalue (3.7) becomes
 p2
Encl  = n. (3.8)

N =1 2m
3.2 One harmonic oscillator
The harmonic oscillator in quantum mechanics corresponds to a classical ideal harmonic
oscillator gas in statistical mechanics.
In order to show the validity of the method and illustrate the method, we take the
harmonic oscillator as an example.
The eigenvalue of a harmonic oscillator is exactly known: En = ~ω n + 21 . The

corresponding partition function is

∞  1 −1
1 1
e−β~ω(n+ 2 ) = e 2 β~ω − e− 2 β~ω
X
Z (β) = . (3.9)
n=1

Now we show how to obtain the eigenvalue from the partition function by the method.
By the relation between the counting function N (En ) and the canonical partition
function Z (β), Eq. (2.1), we can obtain the counting function.
First expand partition function (3.9) in power series of e−β~ω ,
∞
X 1
Z (β) = e− 2 β~ω e−β~ωk . (3.10)
k=1

Substituting Eq. (3.10) into Eq. (2.1) gives the counting function:
∞    
X 1
N (E) = θ E− + k ~ω , (3.11)
2
k=1

where θ (x) is the Heaviside theta function. The eigenvalue is determined by N (En ) = n,
which directly gives the eigenvalue of a harmonic oscillator:
 
1
En = ~ω n + . (3.12)
2

–6–
3.3 N bosonic harmonic oscillators
An N bosonic harmonic oscillator system in quantum mechanics corresponds to a bosonic
harmonic oscillator gas in statistical mechanics.
In this example, we show the validity of the method.

3.3.1 Calculating eigenvalues from partition functions

The exact canonical partition function of a system consists of N bosonic harmonic oscillators
is given by [31]
 
Z (β) −1 0 ... 0
 Z (2β) Z (β) −2 ... 0 
1  
Z (β, N ) = det  Z (3β) Z (2β) Z (β) ... ... . (3.13)
 
N!  
 ... ... ... ... − (N − 1) 
Z (N β) Z (N β − β) Z (N β − 2β) ... Z (β)

where Z (β) is the single particle partition function given by Eq. (3.9).
As examples, consider two cases: N = 2 and N = 3.

Exact eigenvalues For N = 2, the partition function given by Eq. (3.13) reads

e2~ωβ
Z (β, 2) = 2 . (3.14)
(e~ωβ − 1) (e~ωβ + 1)

Expanding Z (β, 2) given by Eq. (3.14) as a power series of e−β~ω gives

X1h i k
Z (β, 2) = 2k + 1 − (−1)k e−~ωβ . (3.15)
4
k=1

The counting function can be obtained by substituting Eq. (3.15) into Eq. (A.4):
X1h i
N (E) = 2k + 1 − (−1)k θ (E − k~ω) , (3.16)
4
k=1

The eigenvalue can be obtained by solving Eq. (2.2). It can be directly shown that the
exact solution of Eq. (2.2) with the counting function (3.16) is

E N =2 = (n + 1) ~ω (3.17)

with the degeneracy

1
ω E N =2 = [3 + (−1)n + 2n] . (3.18)
4
This agrees with the exact result given in Ref. [34].
For N = 3, the partition function given by Eq. (3.13) reads

e9~ωβ/2
Z (β, 3) = 3 . (3.19)
(e~ωβ − 1) (1 + e~ωβ ) (1 + e~ωβ + e2~ωβ )

–7–
Expanding Z (β, 3) given by Eq. (3.19) as a power series of e−β~ω gives
X 1  
3

9

Z (β, 3) = 47 + 6 k − k+ − 9 (−1)k−1/2
72 2 2
n= 23 , 52 ,...
  
2π k
+16 cos k−π e−β~ω . (3.20)
3

The counting function can be obtained by substituting Eq. (3.20) into Eq. (A.4):
X 1  
3

9

N (E) = 47 + 6 k − k+ − 9 (−1)k−1/2
72 2 2
n= 23 , 52 ,...
 
2π
+16 cos k − π θ (E − ~ωk) . (3.21)
3

The eigenvalue can be obtained by solving Eq. (2.2). It can be directly shown that the
exact solution of Eq. (2.2) with the counting function (3.21) is
 
N =3 3
E = n+ ~ω (3.22)
2

with the degeneracy

  
N =3

1 n 2π
ω E = 47 + 6n (6 + n) + 9 (−1) + 16 cos n . (3.23)
72 3

This agrees with the exact result given in Ref. [34].

Approximately smoothed eigenvalues Often, exactly solving the discrete eigenvalue

from the equation (2.2) is difficult. Instead, we can turn to seek an approximately smoothed
eigenvalues, which suffers a loss of the information of the degeneracy.
Take also the N bosonic harmonic oscillator system as an example.
For N = 2, expanding the canonical partition function (3.19) as a power series of β
and then substituting into the counting function (A.4) to obtain the counting function give

1 X − (1 + k) (~ω)k B2+k 1
Z c+i∞
N (E) = β k−1 eβE dβ
2 (2 + k)! 2πi c−i∞
k≥−2
k
1 X 2k (~ω) B1+k 21 1

Z c+i∞
+ β k−1 eβE dβ, (3.24)
2 (1 + k)! 2πi c−i∞
k≥−1

where Bk and Bk (x) are the Bernoulli numbers. Using

(
1
E −k−1 , k < 0,
Z c+i∞
1
β k eβE dβ = (−k−1)! . (3.25)
2πi c−i∞ δ(k) (E) , k≥0

we arrive at
1 E 1 E2
N (E) = − + + 2 2, (3.26)
24 4 ~ω 4~ ω

–8–
 En ℏω
20
●●●
●●●●
■■■■■■■■■■
●●●●●●
●
■■■■■■■■■
●●●
●●●
●●●
■■■■■■■■■
●●●●●
●●●
●●●
■■■■■■■■
●●●
15 ●●●
■■■■■■■■
●●
●
●●●
●●●
■■■■■■■
●●●●●
■■■■■■■
●●●
●●●
●●
■■■■■■
●●● ● The smoothed eigenvalue
●●
■■■■■■
●●
●●
10 ●●●●
■■■■■
■ The exact eigenvalue
●●
■■■■■
●●
●●●
■■■■
●●
●●
■■■■
●●●
■■■
●
●
5 ●
■■■
●
●
●
■■
●

n
20 40 60 80

Figure 1. Comparison of the smoothed eigenvalue and the exact eigenvalue of a two bosonic
oscillator system.

where B0 = 1, B1 = − 21 , B2 = 61 , B0 12 = 1, and B1 1



2 = 0 are used. Solving Eq. (2.2)
with Eq. (3.26) gives the smoothed eigenvalue,
r !
N =2 1 48n + 5
En, = − 1 ~ω. (3.27)
2 3

Similarly, for N = 3, the counting function is

−5 13E 1 E2 E3
N (E) = + + 2 2+ . (3.28)
96 144 ~ω 8~ ω 36~3 ω 3

Solving Eq. (2.2) with Eq. (3.28) gives the smoothed eigenvalue,


 7
EnN =3 = h p i1/3
 61/3 648n + 6 (69984n2 − 343)

h p i1/3 
2
648n + 6 (69984n − 343) 
3
+ − ~ω. (3.29)
62/3 2

The exact eigenvalues, Eqs. (3.17), (3.18), (3.22), and (3.23), and the smoothed eigen-
value, Eq. (3.28) and (3.29) are compared in Figures (1) and (2).

–9–
 En /ℏω

14 ●●●●
●●●●●
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
●●●●●●●●
●
●●●●
●●●●
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
●●●●
12 ●●●●●●●
●●●
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
●●●●
●●●
●●●●●
●
■■■■■■■■■■■■
●●
10 ●●●
●●●
●●●●●
■■■■■■■■■■
●●
●●●
●●
■■■■■■■■
●●
8 ●●
●● ● The smoothed eigenvalue
●●
■■■■■■■
●●
●●
■■■■■
● ■ The exact eigenvalue
●●
6 ●●
●
■■■■
●
●
●
■■■
●
4 ●

n
20 40 60 80

Figure 2. Comparison of the smoothed eigenvalue and the exact eigenvalue of a three bosonic
oscillator system.

4 Noninteracting identical particles in a box: exchange energies

A quantum many-body system consisting of noninteracting identical particles corresponds

to an ideal quantum gas.
There exist exchange interactions among identical particles. The influence of the quan-
tum exchange interaction will be reflected in the eigenvalue, appearing as the exchange
energy.
The method provides an approach to calculate the exchange energy with the help of
statistical mechanics. In statistical mechanics, the contribution of exchange energies is taken
into account by simply setting the maximum occupation number. That is, the information
of exchange interactions of identical particles is embodied in the partition function of the
system.
The canonical partition function of an N -particle quantum ideal gas is [31]

1 1
Z (β) ≃ z (β)N ± z (β)N −2 z (2β) + . . . , (4.1)
N! 2 (N − 2)!

where "+" stands for Bose gases, "−" stands for Fermi gases, and z (β) is the single-
particle partition function given by Eq. (3.2). Substituting Eq. (3.2) into Eq. (4.1) gives
the canonical partition function of a quantum ideal gas,

 N  N −1
1 V 1 V
Z (β) ≃ ± 1+D/2 + ··· . (4.2)
N! λD 2 (N − 2)! λD

– 10 –
The counting function is given by substituting Eq. (4.2) into Eq. (2.1):

V N DN/2
 
1
N (E) ≃ En
N !Γ (1 + DN/2) ΛD
V N −1 DN/2−D/2
 
1
± 1+D/2 En + ··· , (4.3)
2 (N − 2)!Γ (1 + D (N − 1) /2) ΛD
where Λ = √h . Then solving Eq. (2.2) with the counting function (4.3) gives the
2πm
eigenvalue,

En ≃ Encl (N !)2/(DN ) [1+

#
2 (1 − N )
, (4.4)
D (1 − N )2 ± 21+D/2 D (N !)1/N Γ1/N −1 (1 + DN/2) Γ (1 + D (N − 1) /2) n1/N
where Encl is the eigenvalue of a system consisting of N noninteracting particles given
by Eq. (3.6). We make the assumption that the eigenvalue can be written in the form
En ∼ (N !)2/(DN ) Encl (1 + corrections) with the corrections small enough. At higher excited
states, i.e., the case of large n, this assumption is valid.
The influence of the quantum exchange interaction appears as the exchange energy in
eigenvalues. From the result, Eq. (4.4), we can see the contribution of the exchange energy
of bosons or fermions on the eigenvalue, partly reflected in the terms with the sign "±".
In order to illustrate the quantum exchange interaction, we consider a D-dimensional
system consisting of two bosons or two fermions. By Eq. (4.4), the eigenvalue of such a
two-particle system reads
" √ #
 2 D!
En |N =2 ≃ Encl  (2!)1/D 1 − √ , (4.5)

N =2 D D! ± 21+(D+1)/2 DΓ (1 + D/2) n1/2
where  h2
Encl  = Γ1/D (D + 1) n1/D (4.6)

N =22πmV 2/D
is the eigenvalue of classical particles.
For one-dimensional cases, the eigenvalue
h2
 
1
En |D=1
N =2 ≃ 1 − √ n, (4.7)
πmL2 1/2 ± πn1/2
for two-dimensional cases, the eigenvalue
h2
 
1
En |D=2
N =2 ≃ 1− n1/2 , (4.8)
πmΩ 1 ± 4n1/2
and for three-dimensional cases, the eigenvalue
 1/3
h2
 
D=3 3 2/3
En |N =2 ≃ 2/3
1− √ √ 1/2 n1/3 , (4.9)
2 πmV 1 ± 6 πn
where L is the length, Ω is the area, and V is the volume of the container.
From Eq. (4.7) one can see that the quantum exchange interaction between bosons is
attract and the quantum exchange interaction between fermions is repulsive.

– 11 –
5 Noninteracting identical particles in external fields

In this section, we calculate the eigenvalue of identical particles in an external field with
the help of statistical mechanics.
For an ideal gas in an external field, the single-particle eigenvalue is determined by
~2
the Hamiltonian H = − 2m ∇2 + U (x). The partition function for a classical gas can be
expressed as [1, 2, 35]  
V X
z (β) = D 1 + Bk β k  , (5.1)
λ
k=1/2,1,...

where Bk is the heat kernel coefficient, e.g., B1/2 = V1 dxU (x). Eq. (5.1) is known as the
R

heat kernel expansion [1].

For quantum ideal gases in an external field, there are also quantum exchange interac-
tions. In order to illustrate the influence of the quantum exchange interaction, we consider
a D-dimensional system consisting of two bosons or two fermions. For the two-particle case,
the exact canonical partition function is [31]
1 2 1
Z (β) = z (β) ± z (2β) . (5.2)
2 2
Substituting Eq. (5.1) into Eq. (5.2) gives the canonical partition function:

1 V 2
   2
V p 1 V
Z (β) ≃ D
+ D
βB1/2 ± 1+D/2 D + . . . , (5.3)
2 λ λ 2 λ
where the second term is the contribution of the external field, the third term is the con-
tribution of the quantum exchange interaction.
The counting function can be obtained by substituting Eq. (5.3) into Eq. (2.1):

V 2 D V 2
   
1 1
N (E) ≃ E + B1/2 E D−1/2
2Γ (1 + D) ΛD Γ (1/2 + D) ΛD
1 V D/2
± 1+D/2 E + .... (5.4)
2 Γ (1 + D/2) ΛD
Solving Eq (2.2) with the counting function Eq. (5.4) gives

" #
±2c1 n1/(2D)−1/2 + 2 B1/2 ΛV −1/D


2/(N D)
En |N =2 ≃ Encl (N !) 1−
,
c2 n1/(2D) ± Dc1 n1/(2D)−1/2 + (2D − 1) B1/2 ΛV −1/D
(5.5)
where c1 = 2−3/2+1/(2D)−D/2 (D!)−1/2+1/(2D) Γ(1/2+D)
Γ(1+D/2) and c2 = 21/(2D) D (D!)−1+1/(2D) Γ (1/2 + D).
From Eq. (5.5), one can see the influence of the external field, B1/2 ΛV and the −1/D ,

influence of the quantum exchange interaction, partly reflected in the terms with the sign
"±", on the eigenvalue of a quantum ideal gas.
For one-dimensional cases, the eigenvalue
" √
−1/D ± 2 2

#
h2 8 B ΛV
1/2
En |D=1
N =2 ≃ 1− √
√ n, (5.6)
πmL2 2 2πn1/2 + 4 B1/2 ΛV −1/D ± 2

– 12 –
for two-dimensional cases, the eigenvalue
" √ #
32 B1/2 ΛV −1/D n1/4 ± 3 2π


D=2 h2
En |N =2 ≃ 1− √ √ n1/2 , (5.7)
πmΩ


12 2πn1/2 + 48 B1/2 ΛV −1/D n1/4 ± 3 2π
and for three-dimensional cases, the eigenvalue
 1/3
D=3 3 h2
En |N =2 ≃ [1
2 πmV 2/3
#
192 B1/2 ΛV −1/D n1/3 ± 10 × 25/6 × 32/3


− 1/3 1/6
√ 1/2 −1/D


1/3 5/6 2/3
n1/3 .
90 × 2 × 3 πn + 480 B1/2 ΛV n ± 15 × 2 × 3
(5.8)

6 Influences of topologies on eigenvalues

In this section, we discuss the topology effect on the eigenvalue of classical and quantum
particles in nontrivial topological containers. Classical and quantum particles in quantum
mechanics corresponds to classical and quantum gases in statistical mechanics. In statistical
mechanics, the geometric effect and the topology effect are systematically studied [36–41].
In the following, we calculate the eigenvalue from the result given by statistical mechanics.

6.1 Non-interacting classical particles in a two-dimensional nontrivial topolog-

ical box
The single-particle partition function of a two-dimensional ideal classical gas in a nontrivial
topological box is indeed the global heat kernel given by Kac in his famous paper "Can one
hear the shape of a drum?" [13]. Kac’s result allows us to discuss the influence of topology
of space on the eigenvalue.
The single-particle partition function of a two-dimensional confined ideal classical gas
is just the global heat kernel given by Kac [13]
Ω 1L χ
z (β) = 2
− + , (6.1)
λ 4λ 6
where Ω is the area and L the perimeter of the two-dimensional container. χ = 1 − r here is
the Euler-Poincaré characteristic number with r the number of holes in the two-dimensional
container, which describes the connectivity, a topological property of the system.
First consider the eigenvalue of a particle in a nontrivial topological box. From Eq.
(2.1), we can obtain the counting function,
Ω 1 L 1/2 χ
N (E) = 2
E− √ E + . (6.2)
Λ 2 πΛ 6
Solving Eq. (2.2) with the counting function Eq. (6.2) gives the eigenvalue

s
2 L 2 π
  
h n + 1 √L 1
En = nπ + √ − χ
2πmΩ 2π Ω 16 Ω 6
#
L 2 1
 
1
+ √ − χ . (6.3)
8π Ω 6

– 13 –
From the expression of the eigenvalue, Eq. (6.3), we can see the geometric effect, reflected
in the terms with the factor √LΩ , and the topological effect, reflected in the terms with the
factor χ, explicitly.

6.2 Non-interacting quantum particles in a two-dimensional nontrivial topo-

logical box
For two-particle ideal quantum systems, the canonical partition function can be obtained
by substituting Eq. (6.1) into Eq. (5.2):
 2  2
1 Ω 1L Ω 1Ω 1 L χΩ
Z (β) ≃ − ± + + + .... (6.4)
2 λ2 4λλ 2 2λ 2 32 λ 6 λ2

The counting function is given by substituting Eq. (6.4) into Eq. (2.1):

Ω 2 2
 
1 1 L Ω 3/2 1 Ω
N (E) ≃ 2
E − √ E ± E
4 Λ 3 π Λ Λ2 2 Λ2
1 L 2
 
χ Ω
+ E+ E + .... (6.5)
32 Λ 6 Λ2

Solving Eq. (2.2) with the counting function Eq. (6.5) gives the eigenvalue
√ √  
1 L2
 
2 2 √L 3/4 1 1/2
2
h  − 3 Ω
n + π ±1 + 3 χ + 16 Ω n
En |N =2 ≃ 1− √ √ L  n1/2 . (6.6)
πmΩ 3/4
√  1 1 L 2

1/2
2 πn − 2 √ n + π ±1 + χ + Ω
n3 16 Ω

From Eq. (6.6), one can see that the eigenvalue of a two-dimensional ideal quantum
gas in a nontrivial topological box is modified by the geometric effect described by √LΩ ,
and by the topological effect described by χ. Moreover, for such quantum cases, there exist
exchange energies partly reflected in the terms with the sign "±".

7 Interacting classical many-body systems with the Lennard-Jones in-

teraction

A system consisting of particles interacted with each other through the Lennard-Jones
potential in quantum mechanics corresponds to an interacting gas with the Lennard-Jones
interaction in statistical mechanics.
The Lennard-Jones inter-particle potential reads
  
σ 12  σ 6
U = 4ε − , (7.1)
r r

where ε is the depth of the potential well and σ is the finite distance at which the inter-
particle potential is zero [42]. The canonical partition function of a classical interacting gas
with N particles is given by [31]
 N  N −1
1 V 1 V
Z (β) ≃ + b2 + . . . , (7.2)
N! λ3 (N − 2)! λ3

– 14 –
where b2 = 2π
R 3
d r e−βU − 1 .


λ3
The coefficient b2 for the Lennard-Jones interaction is [42]
2π r03
b2 ≃ (u0 β − 1) , (7.3)
3 λ3
where r0 = 21/6 σ. Then the canonical partition reads
 N  N 3  N 3
1 V 2π V r0 2π V r0
Z (β) ≃ 3
− 3
+ 3
u0 β + . . . . (7.4)
N! λ 3 (N − 2)! λ V 3 (N − 2)! λ V
The counting function can be obtained by substituting Eq. (7.4) into Eq. (2.1),
 N
r03 V N 3N/2
 
1 V 3N/2 2π
N (E) ≃ E − E
N !Γ (1 + 3N/2) Λ3 3 (N − 2)!Γ (1 + 3N/2) V Λ3
 N
2π r03 V
+ u0 E 3N/2−1 + . . . . (7.5)
3 (N − 2)!Γ (3N/2) V Λ3
The eigenvalue can be obtained by solving Eq. (2.2) with the counting function (7.5):

En ≃ Encl (N !)2/(3N ) [1

4 (N !)2/(3N ) Γ2/(3N ) (1 + 3N/2) r03 n2/(3N ) − 6N r03 V 2/3 u0 Λ−2
+ h i .
3 (N !)2/(3N ) Γ2/(3N ) (1 + 3N/2) (N −1)π3
V − 2N r03 n2/(3N ) + 3N (3N − 2) r03 V 2/3 u0 Λ−2
(7.6)
Especially, for N = 1, there is of course no inter-particle interactions, so the eigenvalue
(7.6) recovers the eigenvalue of a free particle

32/3 h2
En |N =1 ≃ n2/3 . (7.7)
27/3 mπ 2/3 V 2/3
For N = 2, the eigenvalue (7.6) becomes

 1/3 " #
3 h2 121/3 × 43 πr03 n1/3 − 4πr03 V 2/3 u0 Λ−2
En |N =2 ≃ 1+ n1/3 .
πmV 2/3 3 × 121/3 V − 34 πr03 n1/3 + 8πr03 V 2/3 u0 Λ−2


2
(7.8)

8 Interacting quantum many-body systems with hard-sphere interac-

tions

A system consisting of particles interacted with each other through the hard-sphere potential
in quantum mechanics corresponds to an interacting gas with the hard-sphere interaction
in statistical mechanics.
In a quantum hard-sphere gas, there exist both the quantum exchange interaction
and the classical hard-sphere interaction. The canonical partition function of a quantum
interacting gas is [31]
 N  N −1
1 V 1 V
Z (β) ≃ + b2 + . . . , (8.1)
N ! λ3 (N − 2)! λ3

– 15 –
where
1
Z
b2 = d6 qU2 (q1 , q2 ) (8.2)
2V λ3
~2
with U2 (q1 , q2 ) = λ6 hq1 , q2 |e−βH2 |q1 , q2 i − hq1 |e−βH1 |q1 ihq2 |e−βH1 |q2 i , H1 = − 2m ∇2 ,
 
2 2
H2 = − 2m~
∇21 − 2m
~
∇22 + 4πa~2 /mδ (q1 − q2 ), and a is the radius of the particle.
2 a5
For Bose gases, Eq. (8.2) becomes b2 = 2−5/2 − 2 λa − 10π 3 λ5 [42]; for Fermi gases, Eq.
3 5
(8.2) becomes b2 = −2−5/2 − 6π λa3 + 18π 2 λa5 [42].
Then the canonical partition function of a Bose gas is
 N  N −1 
a 10π 2 a5

1 V 1 V −5/2
ZB (β) ≃ + 2 −2 − + ..., (8.3)
N ! λ3 (N − 2)! λ3 λ 3 λ5
and the canonical partition function of a Fermi gas is
 N  N −1 
a3 5

1 V 1 V −5/2 2a
ZF (β) ≃ + −2 − 6π 3 + 18π 5 + . . . , (8.4)
N ! λ3 (N − 2)! λ3 λ λ
respectively.
Then the counting function of a Bose gas by Eq. (2.1) is
NB (E)
(2π)3N/2 m3N/2 V N 3N/2 23N/2−4 π 3(N −1)/2 m3(N −1)/2 V N −1 3N/2−3/2
≃ E + E
N !Γ (1 + 3N/2) h3N (N − 2)!Γ (3N/2 − 1/2) h3(N −1)
(8.5)
23N/2 π (3N −2)/2 a m(3N −2)/2 V N −1 3N/2−1 10a5 (2π)3N/2+3 m(3N +2)/2 V N −1 3N/2+1
− 3N −2
E − E + ...,
(N − 2)!Γ (3N/2) h 3 (N − 2)!Γ (3N/2 + 2) h3N +2
(8.6)
and the counting function of a Fermi gas by Eq. (2.1) is
NF (E)
3 N−1
(2π)3N/2 m3N/2 V N 3N/2 23N/2−4 π 3N/2−3/2 m3N/2− 2 V
≃ E − E 3N/2−3/2
N !Γ (1 + 3N/2) h3N (N − 2)!Γ (3N/2 − 1/2) h3N −3
(8.7)
3× 23N/2+1 π 3N/2+1 a3 m3N/2 V N −1 9× 23N/2+2 π 3N/2+3 a5 m3N/2+1 V N −1
− E 3N/2 + E 3N/2+1 + . . . .
(N − 2)!Γ (3N/2 + 1) h3N (N − 2)!Γ (3N/2 + 2) h3N +2
(8.8)
Solving Eq. (2.2) gives the eigenvalue of a hard-sphere Bose gas,
a5 a
" #
h n 5/(3N ) + 2h n 1/(3N ) − 2h
2/3N 1 5/3 2 1/3 3
En ≃ Encl (N !) 1+ 5
V V
(8.9)
h1 Va5/3 n5/(3N ) + h4 n1/N + 5h2 V 1/3 a
n1/(3N ) + 3 (N − 1) h3
10π 2 (N !)5/(3N) Γ5/(3N) (1+3N/2) 1/(3N) 1/(3N)
with h1 = 3Γ(3N/2+2) , h2 = 2(N !) Γ
Γ(3N/2)
(1+3N/2) 1
, h3 = 25/2 Γ(3N/2−1/2) ,
1/N 1/N−1
3(N !) Γ (1+3N/2)
and h4 = N −1 . The eigenvalue of a hard-sphere Fermi gas,
5 3
−2t1 Va5/3 n5/(3N ) + 2t2 aV n1/N + 2t3
" #
En ≃ Encl (N !)2/(3N ) 1 + 5 3
(2 + 3N ) t1 Va5/3 n5/(3N ) + t4 n1/N − 3N t2 aV n1/N − 3 (N − 1) t3
(8.10)

– 16 –
 18π 2 (N !)5/(3N) Γ5/(3N) (1+3N/2) 6π(N !)1/(3N) Γ1/(3N) (1+3N/2) 1
with t1 = Γ(3N/2+2) , t2 = Γ(3N/2+1) , t3 = 25/2 Γ(3N/2−1/2)
,
1/N 1/N−1
and t4 = 3 (N !) Γ N −1 (1+3N/2) .
In order to illustrate the influence of the quantum exchange interaction, we consider a
system consisting of two bosons or two fermions. For the Bose case, the eigenvalue (4.5)
becomes

D=3 h2
En |Bose
N =2 ∼ 12
1/3
n1/3 [1
2πmV 2/3
5 √ a 1/6
10 × 21/3 × 35/6 π 5/2 Va5/3 n5/6 + 36 × 31/6 π V 1/3
#
n − 6 × 21/6
+ 5 √ a 1/6 √ √ ;
−40 × 21/3 × 35/6 π 5/2 Va5/3 n5/6 − 72 × 31/6 π V 1/3 n + 9 × 21/6 6π n + 9 × 21/6
(8.11)

for the Fermi case, the eigenvalue (4.5) becomes

D=3 h2
En |FNermi
=2 ∼ 121/3 n1/3 [1 (8.12)
2πmV 2/3
5 √ 3√ √
−18 × 22/3 × 35/6 π 5/2 Va5/3 n5/6 + 24 3π 3/2 aV n + 2 2
#
+ 5 √ 3√ √ √ √ . (8.13)
72 × 22/3 × 35/6 π 5/2 Va5/3 n5/6 − 72 3π 3/2 × aV n + 6 3π n − 3 2

9 The one-dimensional Ising model

The eigenvalue of the one-dimensional Ising model without interactions can be calculated
from the corresponding canonical partition function directly.

9.1 The Ising model without interactions

For a one-dimensional N -particle Ising model without the interaction between spins, the
canonical partition function reads [33]

Z(β) = (eβBµ + e−Bµβ )N , (9.1)

where B is the magnetic field strength and µ is the spin magnetic moment.
The counting function can be obtained by substituting Eq. (9.1) into Eq. (2.1),

N +1  
X N
N (E) = θ (E − Bµ [2 (s − 1) − N ]) , (9.2)
s=1
s−1

where θ (x) is the step function. Substituting Eq. (9.2) into Eq. (2.2) and solving the
equation give the eigenvalue
E = Bµ [2 (n − 1) − N ] (9.3)

and the degree of degeneracy

 
N
ω(E) = . (9.4)
n−1

– 17 –
 Table 1. The eigenvalue E and the degree of degeneracy ω : N = 3
E −3Bµ − 3ǫ −Bµ + ǫ Bµ + ǫ 3Bµ − 3ǫ
ω 1 3 3 1

Table 2. The eigenvalue E and the degree of degeneracy ω : N = 4

E −4Bµ − 4ǫ −2Bµ 0 4ǫ 2Bµ 4Bµ − 4ǫ
ω 1 4 4 2 4 1

Table 3. The eigenvalue E and the degree of degeneracy ω : N = 5

E −5Bµ − 5ǫ −3Bµ − ǫ −Bµ + 3ǫ −Bµ − ǫ Bµ + 3ǫ
ω 1 5 5 5 5
E Bµ − ǫ 3Bµ − ǫ 5Bµ − 5ǫ
ω 5 5 1

Table 4. The eigenvalue E and the degree of degeneracy ω : N = 6

E −6Bµ − 6ǫ −4Bµ − 2ǫ −2Bµ + 2ǫ −2Bµ − 2ǫ −2ǫ
ω 1 6 9 6 6
E 2ǫ 6ǫ 2Bµ + 2ǫ 2Bµ − 2ǫ 4Bµ − 2ǫ 6Bµ − 6ǫ
ω 12 2 9 6 6 1

9.2 The Ising model with nearest-neighbour interactions

For a one-dimensional N -particle Ising model with nearest-neighbour interactions, the
P P
Hamiltonian is H = − i Bµσi + i ǫσi σi+1 , where ǫ is the coupling constant. The
canonical partition function reads [43]

Z (β, N ) = λN N
+ + λ− , (9.5)

where  q 
βǫ 2
λ± = e cosh (βµB) ± cosh (βµB) − 2e−2βǫ sinh (2βǫ) . (9.6)

The counting function can be obtained by substituting Eq. (9.5) into Eq. (2.1). In the
following, we list the eigenvalues for N = 3, 4, 5, . . . , 9.
For example, for N = 3, the counting function is

N (E) = θ (E − (−3Bµ − 3ǫ)) + 3θ (E − (−Bµ + ǫ))

+ 3θ (E − (Bµ + ǫ)) + θ (E − (3Bµ − 3ǫ)) ; (9.7)

the eigenvalue E and the degree of degeneracy ω are listed in Table 1.

For other values of N , we only list the eigenvalues in Tables 2-7.

10 The one-dimensional Potts model

The Potts model in statistical mechanics is a generalization of the Ising model, which is a
model of interacting spins on a crystalline lattice. The Hamiltonian of the one-dimensional

– 18 –
 Table 5. The eigenvalue E and the degree of degeneracy ω : N = 7
E −7Bµ − 7ǫ −5Bµ − 3ǫ −3Bµ + ǫ −3Bµ − 3ǫ −Bµ + 5ǫ −Bµ + ǫ
ω 1 7 14 7 7 21
E −Bµ − 3ǫ Bµ + 5ǫ Bµ + ǫ Bµ − 3ǫ 3Bµ + ǫ 3Bµ − 3ǫ
ω 7 7 21 7 14 7
E 5Bµ − 3ǫ 7Bµ − 7ǫ
ω 7 1

Table 6. The eigenvalue E and the degree of degeneracy ω : N = 8

E −8Bµ − 8ǫ −6Bµ − 4ǫ −4Bµ −4Bµ − 4ǫ −2Bµ + 4ǫ −2Bµ
ω 1 8 20 8 16 32
E −2Bµ − 4ǫ 8ǫ −4ǫ 0 4ǫ 2Bµ
ω 8 2 8 36 24 32
E 2Bµ + 4ǫ 2Bµ − 4ǫ 4Bµ − 4ǫ 4Bµ 6Bµ − 4ǫ 8Bµ − 8ǫ
ω 16 8 8 20 8 1

Table 7. The eigenvalue E and the degree of degeneracy ω : N = 9

E −9Bµ − 9ǫ −7Bµ − 5ǫ −5Bµ − 5ǫ −5Bµ − ǫ −3Bµ − 5ǫ −3Bµ − ǫ
ω 1 9 9 27 9 45
E −3Bµ + 3ǫ −Bµ − 5ǫ −Bµ − ǫ −Bµ + 3ǫ −Bµ + 7ǫ Bµ − 5ǫ
ω 30 9 54 54 9 9
E Bµ − ǫ Bµ + 3ǫ Bµ + 7ǫ 3Bµ − 5ǫ 3Bµ − ǫ 3Bµ + 3ǫ
ω 54 54 9 9 45 30
E 5Bµ − ǫ 5Bµ − 5ǫ 7Bµ − 5ǫ 9Bµ − 9ǫ
ω 27 9 9 1

P
Potts model is H = −J hi,ji δ (σi , σj ), where σi = 1, 2, 3, . . . , q, δ (σi , σj ) = 1 if i = j,
and (σi , σj ) = 0 other wise. The canonical partition function of the one-dimensional Potts
model of N particles is [44]
 N −1
Z (β, N ) = q q − 1 + eβJ . (10.1)

The counting function can be obtained by substituting Eq. (10.1) into Eq. (2.1),
N −1  
N −1
(q − 1)N −1−l θ (Jl + E) .
X
N (E) = q (10.2)
l
l=0

Substituting Eq. (10.2) into Eq. (2.2) and solving the equation give the eigenvalue

E = nJ (10.3)

and the degeneracy

   
N −1 N −1−n N −1
ω=q (q − 1) −q (q − 1)N −n . (10.4)
n n−1

– 19 –
11 Conclusions

In this paper, we suggest a method for calculating the eigenvalue of a many-body system
from the corresponding canonical partition function. The advantage of the method is that
it allows us to merely calculate the eigenvalue without solving the eigenfunction simultane-
ously. Recalling that in many approximate methods, although only needing the eigenvalue,
one has to solve the eigenfunction in the meantime. Solving eigenfunctions, however, is
always a difficult task.
In statistical mechanics, the calculation of thermodynamic quantities only needs the
knowledge of eigenvalues. Only the information of eigenvalue is embodied in thermody-
namic quantities. The method suggested in the present paper is an approach for extracting
the eigenvalue from the thermodynamic quantity which obtained by statistical mechanical
method.
In the present paper, we calculate the eigenvalue from the canonical partition function.
In future works, one can generalizes the method to calculate the eigenvalue from the other
thermodynamic quantities.
Moreover, we improve the result of the relation between the counting function and the
heat kernel given in [2].

A The relation between counting functions and heat kernels

In Ref. [2], we provide a relation between the counting function

X
N (λ) = 1 (A.1)
λn <λ

and the global heat kernel X

K (t) = e−λn t . (A.2)
n

In Ref. [2], we only consider the counting function which counts the number of eigenstates
with eigenvalue smaller than a given number λ, but a special case is ignored: the given
number is just a eigenvalue, i.e., λ = λn with λn the n-th eigenvalue. In the following, we
provide a complete version of the relation between N (λ) and K (t).

Theorem 1
Z c+i∞
eλt

1
K (t) dt, when λn 6= λ (A.3)



 2πi
c−i∞ t
N (λ) = Z c+i∞
 1 eλt 1
K (t) dt − , when λn = λ (A.4)


2πi c−i∞ t 2


ln n
with c > limn→∞ λn .

Proof. The function

∞
X an
f (s) = (A.5)
µsn
n=1

– 20 –
is a generalization of the Dirichlet series. The function
∞
X an
f (s + ω) = (A.6)
µs+ω
n=1 n

is uniformly convergent when σ > β − c, where c = Re ω and β is the abscissa of absolute

1
R c+iT xω
convergence of this Dirichlet series. Performing the integral 2πi c−iT ω dω on both sides
of Eq. (A.6) gives
c+iT ∞ c+iT ω
xω

1 1 X an x dω
Z Z
f (s + ω) dω = . (A.7)
2πi c−iT ω 2πi µsn c−iT µn ω
n=1

1
R c+iT  x ω dω
The integral in the right-hand side of Eq. (A.7), 2πi c−iT µn ω , should be considered
in different situations, i.e., µn < x, µn = x, and µn > x. In the limitation T → ∞, the
integral reads [45] 
Z c+iT  ω  1, µn < x,

1 x dω  1
lim = , µn = x, (A.8)
T →∞ 2πi c−iT µn ω 
 2
 0, µ > x.
n

Substituting Eq. (A.8) into Eq. (A.7) gives

 ∞
 X an

 , when µn 6= x,
1
Z c+i∞
xω

 µs
µn <x n
f (s + ω) dω = ∞ (A.9)
2πi c−i∞ ω  X an 1 anx


s
+ , when µn = x.
µ 2 xs

µ <x n

n

Setting s = 0, an = 1, µn = eλn , x = eλ , and ω = t in Eq. (A.9) gives


X∞
1, when λn 6= λ,


Z c+i∞ 
eλt

1 
λn <λ
f (t) dω = ∞ (A.10)
2πi c−i∞ t  X 1

 1 + , when λn = λ.
2


λn <λ

Comparing the definition of the counting function and the global heat kernel, Eqs. (A.1)
and (A.2), with Eq. (A.10) proves Eqs. (A.3) and (A.4).

Acknowledgments

We are very indebted to Dr G. Zeitrauman for his encouragement. This work is supported
in part by NSF of China under Grant No. 11575125 and No. 11675119.

References
[1] D. V. Vassilevich, Heat kernel expansion: user’s manual, Physics reports 388 (2003), no. 5
279–360.

– 21 –
 [2] W.-S. Dai and M. Xie, The number of eigenstates: counting function and heat kernel,
Journal of High Energy Physics 2009 (2009), no. 02 033.
[3] W.-S. Dai and M. Xie, An approach for the calculation of one-loop effective actions, vacuum
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