On quantum holonomy for mixed states

There is a natural connection and parallel transport on the Hilbert tensor product (or, equivalently, the space of Hilbert-Schmidt operators), the elements of which represent density matrices in up to unitary operators. We postulate a time evolution equation, which leads to this connection after extracting a proper dynamical unitary phase. As an example, we compute the holonomy of a loop of temperature states for the spin in a rotating magnetic field.Supported by Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung in Österreich, Project No. P5588.