Geometric phases for a thermal two-dimensional mixed spin 1/2 system

Abstract: Quantum mechanical methods for getting geometric phases for mixed states are analyzed. Parallel transport equations for pure states are generalized to mixed states by which dynamical phases are eliminated. The geometric phases of mixed states are obtained as Pancharatnam phases which are valid also for open cycles. The geometric phases are derived here by SU(2) transformations of mixed thermal states which are different from those used in NMR and neutron interference experiments. While the zeroth order Hamiltonian is given by the interaction of a magnetic moment and constant magnetic field in the z direction, the high order perturbations assumed in the present article are composed of two oscillating magnetic fields in the same z direction. These assumptions lead to a special form of the SU(2) unitary transformation of the mixed thermal states by which results for geometric phase and for interference intensity are derived.