Combinatorial Approach to the N‐Representability of P‐Density Matrices

This paper considers the determination of N‐representability (for diagonal elements) of p‐density matrices restricted to certain finite‐dimensional subspaces of l2 of the configuration space of N identical antisymmetric particles. In particular, an arbitrary set of N + p spin orbitals is selected and one considers the (N+pp)‐dimensional subspace generated by all possible Slater determinants of the spin orbitals being considered. Applying a combinatorial approach to the problem, a necessary and sufficient set of conditions is determined; previous work has dealt only with necessary conditions, except in the 1‐matrix case. The paper concludes by presenting a probabilistic interpretation of these conditions which seems of particular interest for the 2‐matrix case. The conditions presented here in combination with the Pauli principle give a probabilistic view of the expected occupation of p‐tuples of spin orbitals in terms of the expected occupations of lower‐order‐tuples of spin orbitals.