Paper detail

Unified framework for generalized quantum statistics: canonical partition function, maximum occupation number, and permutation phase of wave function

Beyond Bose and Fermi statistics, there still exist various kinds of generalized quantum statistics. Two ways to approach generalized quantum statistics: (1) in quantum mechanics, generalize the permutation symmetry of the wave function and (2) in statistical mechanics, generalize the maximum occupation number of quantum statistics. The connection between these two approaches, however, is obscure. In this paper, we suggest a unified framework to describe various kinds of generalized quantum statistics. We first provide a general formula of canonical partition functions of ideal $N$-particle gases obeying various kinds of generalized quantum statistics. Then we reveal the connection between the permutation phase of the wave function and the maximum occupation number, through constructing a method to obtain the permutation phase and the maximum occupation number from the canonical partition function. In our scheme, the permutation phase of wave functions is generalized to a matrix phase, rather than a number. It is commonly accepted that different kinds of statistics are distinguished by the maximum number. We show that the maximum occupation number is not sufficient to distinguish different kinds of generalized quantum statistics. As examples, we discuss a series of generalized quantum statistics in the unified framework, giving the corresponding canonical partition functions, maximum occupation numbers, and the permutation phase of wave functions. Especially, we propose three new kinds of generalized quantum statistics which seem to be the missing pieces in the puzzle. The mathematical basis of the scheme are the mathematical theory of the invariant matrix, the Schur-Weyl duality, the symmetric function, and the representation theory of the permutation group and the unitary group. The result in this paper builds a bridge between the statistical mechanics and such mathematical theories.