Hermiticity of the superoperator Hamiltonian in propagator theory

Spurious terms are shown to appear in finite order perturbation theory treatment of the electron propagator in the so‐called equation of motion approach. These terms, which cause the superoperator Hamiltonian not to be Hermitian, are canceled when the reference state of the propagator is improved to the next higher order in Rayleigh–Schrodinger perturbation theory.