title: Many-body partition function and thermal hartree-fock approximations
abstract: The hierarchy equations for the quantum thermal density matrices of an assembly of interacting particles in an external potential are derived in a compact form. This approach can complement and finally replace the phenomenological treatment of the thermodynamic properties of quantum gasses, liquids, and solids. We also derive a temperature Hartree-Fock approximation for fermions based on the symmetry properties of the exact hierarchy and finally we discuss the present approximation in relation to that of Kaplan and Argyres [T. A. Kaplan and P. N. Argyres, Ann. Phys. (N.Y.) 92, 1 (1975)].
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute fur Festkorperforschung, Heisenbergstrasse 1, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Farid
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: March
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Theophilou