Let , and . Substitution of the Bogoliubov transformation, with normal ordering using and , gives
For example, the term in contributes ; these constants must be retained to obtain the ground-state energy. The two-orbital fermionic pairing Hamiltonian is consequently
To eliminate the pairing term, choose a canonical rotation of two fermionic modes satisfying
With , , take , so . Setting gives
This positive choice fixes a convenient convention for the vacuum state in part (d). It yields
Both number operators independently have eigenvalues . Hence the energy eigenvalues and state degeneracies are
There is one fermionic Bogoliubov quasiparticle of energy per occupied transformed orbital. The two Nambu spinor matrix eigenvalues should not be mistaken for two independently occupiable levels of opposite energy; the normal ordering constant and the two positive quasiparticle excitation costs give the four physical energy eigenvalues above.
An independent diagonalization of a matrix checks both the pairing sign and the additive constant. In the ordered orthonormal basis , the even-fermion parity block is
because and . Its characteristic polynomial is , giving . The odd-fermion parity Fock states are unaffected by pairing and both have energy .
Equivalently, with the Nambu spinor ,
Replacing by gives , reproducing the result by normal ordering.
Figure 1.
Pairing splits the even-parity levels and mixes the original vacuum with the occupied pair
. Original exact energy eigenvalues in units of , and the probability of finding both original orbitals occupied in the two-mode fermionic paired vacuum. The middle energy level remains twofold degenerate; both outside energy levels are nondegenerate. Details.
The canonical anticommutation relations make , so the proposed exponential function terminates exactly:
Use the inverse Bogoliubov transformation , , and the actions and . The two vacuum state conditions become
Both therefore require . Normalizing this quantum state gives . Choosing positive , which fixes an irrelevant overall global phase, yields because . Thus the two-mode fermionic paired vacuum is
The other sign for describes the same physical quantum state. The positive relative coefficient is fixed by the paper's pairing order and the convention .
As a direct eigenvector check, and imply
It is therefore the unique ground state, as also follows from positive quasiparticle excitation energy . It has definite even fermion parity but is not an eigenstate of the original total number operator: the empty-pair and occupied-pair probabilities are and . In particular . The pair amplitude is , consistently with .
For the limiting check at fixed positive , , , so . For at fixed positive , , , giving equal amplitudes for the empty and occupied pair. These checks also fix which branch of the Bogoliubov transformation produces the ground state.