Generalization of Balian–Brezin decomposition for exponentials with linear fermionic part

Abstract Fermionic Gaussian states have garnered considerable attention due to their intriguing properties, most notably Wick’s theorem. Expanding upon the work of Balian and Brezin, who generalized properties of fermionic Gaussian operators and states, we further extend their findings to incorporate Gaussian operators with a linear component. Leveraging a technique introduced by Colpa, we streamline the analysis and present a comprehensive extension of the Balian–Brezin decomposition to encompass exponentials involving linear terms. Furthermore, we introduce Gaussian states featuring a linear part and derive corresponding overlap formulas. Additionally, we generalize Wick’s theorem to encompass scenarios involving linear terms, facilitating the expression of generic expectation values in relation to one and two-point correlation functions. We also provide a brief commentary on the applicability of the BB decomposition in addressing the BCH (Zassenhaus) formulas within the so ( N ) Lie algebra.