The Real Density Matrix

Abstract

We introduce a nonsymmetric real matrix which contains all the information that the usual Hermitian density matrix does, and which has exactly the same tensor product structure. The properties of this matrix are analyzed in detail in the case of multi-qubit (e.g. spin = 1/2) systems, where the transformation between the real and Hermitian density matrices is given explicitly as an operator sum, and used to convert the essential equations of the density matrix formalism into the real domain.