Appendix A

Wick’s Theorem

The quantum kinetic equations in Chapter 2 for the mean field Eq. (2.70) and fluctuations
Eq. (2.71) and Eq. (2.72) were derived from the Born-Markov form of the generalized
kinetic equation Eq. (2.60) for a general relevant observable q . We do not provide the
details in getting from Eq. (2.60) to Eq. (2.70) through Eq. (2.72), however it is important
to understand the main steps, which involve evaluating the averages of multiple operator
products. Due to the Gaussian structure of our reference distribution  (0) (t) in Eq. (2.9),
we can utilize Wick’s theorem to simplify the calculation [42].
We are interested in calculating the average of a product of s operators

hA^1 A^2


A^s it(0) = Trf(0) (t) A^1 A^2


A^s g; (A.1)

where we are denoting A^i to represent either a raising a ^yi or a lowering operator a^i . These
averages arise in the kinetic equations. For example, in the kinetic equation for the normal
fluctuations, the second order collisional terms involve a product of ten operators due to
terms of the form  hV 2 f~iy(0) , since the interaction V contains a product of four operators
V  a^yi a^yj a^k a^l and the normal fluctuations have the form f~  a^yj a^i .
Wick’s theorem is valid for averages taken over a Gaussian distribution that can involve
both normal a ^yj a^i and anomalous pairs a^i a^j in the exponent, as our reference distribution
does in Eq. (2.9). We do not derive Wick’s theorem here, but simply state the results. The
interested reader can find derivations of Wick’s theorem in Louisell [119] (p. 182) for the
case of bosons, and in Zubarev [39] (p. 172) for fermions. Both of these derivations assume
a Gaussian form with only normal pairs a ^yj a^i in the exponent; one can find a more general
derivation including anomalous pairs (for a squeezed vacuum) in Vaglica [43]. To include
the anomalous pairs in the proof, one can simply make a canonical transformation of the
operators a^i and a^yi so that only normal pairs appear in the exponent for the new set of
operators; doing this allows one to use the standard proof, which treats only normal pairs.
Wick’s theorem states that the average value of a product of creation and annihilation
operators is equal to the sum of all complete systems of pairings, which can be stated more
formally as
X
hA^1 A^2


A^s it(0) = hA^1 A^2 it(0) hA^3 A^4 it(0)


hA^s 1 A^s it(0) ; (A.2)
Pd
where the sum runs over all Pd distinct permutations of the s indices. An alternative way
Appendix A Wick’s Theorem

to write Eq. (A.2) is

hA^1 A^2


A^s it(0) = hA^1 A^2 it(0) hA^3 A^4


A^s it(0) + hA^1 A^3 it(0) hA^2 A^4


A^s it(0)
+ hA^1 A^s it(0) hA^2 A^3


A^s 1 it(0) ; (A.3)

and then applying this relation recursively to all of the multiple operator averages until only
pairs of operators remain. If the number of operators s is odd, Wick’s theorem reduces to
the simple result
hA^1 A^2


A^s it(0) = 0 if s is odd: (A.4)
Wick’s theorem is augmented by the further rules for averages of pairs of operators, which
hold for bosons

ha^1 a^y2 it(0) = Æ12 + ha^y1 a^2 it(0) ;

ha^1 a^2 it(0) = ha^2 a^1 it(0) ;
ha^y1 a^y2 it(0) = ha^y2 a^y1 it(0) : (A.5)

As an example, we consider the product of four operators hA^1 A^2 A^3 A^4 it(0) , which can be
reduced according to Wick’s theorem to

hA^1 A^2 A^3 A^4 it(0) = hA^1 A^2 it(0) hA^3 A^4 it(0) + hA^1 A^3 it(0) hA^2 A^4 it(0) + hA^1 A^4 it(0) hA^2 A^3 it(0)
(A.6)
The application of Wick’s theorem to the kinetic equation Eq. (2.60) for our set of
relevant operators is complicated by the fact that the operators a^i are shifted by the c-
number mean-field i . The evaluation of the average of a product of ten shifted operators
involves 210 terms, each of which must be reduced according to Wick’s theorem. Even a
demonstration on the example in Eq. (A.6) for the case four operators would involve on
the order of  3
24 = 48 terms. A symbolic algebra package using Mathematica was
developed by Reinhold Walser in our group to carry out all of these steps.

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