Normal ordering

Normal ordering places creation operators to the left of annihilation operators. For free fields it removes vacuum self-contractions from a composite operator.

For a massive real scalar field in two spacetime dimensions with a polynomial potential and no derivative interactions, every connected subgraph has superficial degree of divergence $\omega =2(1-V)$, where $V$ counts interaction vertices. The only divergent loop subgraphs with external legs have one vertex and consist of self-contractions. Normal ordering removes them. With $T_{\Lambda }={\int }_{|k|<\Lambda }{d}^{2}k/[(2\pi {)}^2(k^2+m^2)]$, the ordinary-field potential representing the normal-ordered interaction is $e^{-T_{\Lambda }{\partial }_{\varphi }^2/2}V(\varphi )$. The exponential terminates for a polynomial. After these subtractions all remaining loop subgraphs have negative superficial degree of divergence, so no additional divergent field-dependent counterterms occur. Constant vacuum energy subtractions and finite on-shell renormalization scheme conditions are separate.

This correlation counts distinct detection events without the delta-function self-counting term in an un-ordered product of densities. It is nonnegative as the expectation of $A^{†}A$ with $A={\psi }_n\cdots {\psi }_1$. For a single occupied bosonic mode with sharp occupation $N$, the coincident $n$-point value contains the falling factorial $N(N-1)\cdots (N-n+1)$, rather than $N^n$.

A single-component chaotic Gaussian bosonic field has normalized coincident normally ordered correlation $n!$: every pairing contributes the same product of densities. A same-component fermionic field instead has zero coincident correlations for $n\ge 2$ by exclusion. These are state-dependent statements: a coherent bosonic field has factor one, and a single-mode number state has $N^{\underline{n}}/N^n$. Ratios to distant unnormalized correlations additionally require the compared densities to agree and distant correlations to factorize.

For a number-conserving Gaussian pairing state, six permutations give this expression. Each transposition has sign $ϵ$, positive for bosons and negative for fermions; the two three-cycles have positive sign for either statistics. Equivalently it is the permanent or determinant of the three-by-three one-body density matrix. For bosonic number states, repeated-mode factorial corrections must be included instead of assuming that Wick theorem.

For a product of bosonic number states, direct and exchange contractions correctly count distinct modes. They overcount repeated-mode terms because $⟨a^{†2}{a}^2⟩=N(N-1)$, while Wick theorem would give $2N^2$. Subtracting the excess yields the displayed exact two-point correction. At higher order the occupation decrements carry falling factorials. This distinction is essential when comparing a fixed-number condensate with independent thermal modes.

For the quantum harmonic oscillator $H=\hslash \omega (a^{†}a+1/2)$, its normal symbol is $H_N=\hslash \omega (\bar{\psi }\psi +1/2)$. The Weyl ordering symbol of $a^{†}a$ is $\bar{\psi }\psi -1/2$, so $H_W=\hslash \omega \bar{\psi }\psi =p^2/(2m)+m{\omega }^2{q}^2/2$. Switching from adjacent-label coherent-state time slicing to a midpoint phase-space path integral must retain this ordering correction. Both correctly normalized constructions give the thermal partition function of a quantum harmonic oscillator $Z=[2\sinh (\beta \hslash \omega /2){]}^{-1}$; retaining the normal-symbol constant after switching prescriptions would count the zero-point shift twice.

A normal-ordered product of free-field oscillator operators places all creation operators to the left of all annihilation operators, including the fermionic sign required to reorder fermions. Its vacuum expectation vanishes if any nontrivial oscillator factors remain. The Wick theorem expresses a free-field time-ordered product through these products and all Wick contractions.