Second Quantization-Kinetic operator

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I am feeling a little stupid tonight... So let me build the problem...
For a single particle operator [itex]O[/itex], we have in the basis [itex]|i>[/itex] we have that:
[itex]O= \sum_{ij} o_{ij} |i><j|[/itex] with [itex]o_{ij}=<i|O|j>[/itex]
Then for N particles we have that:
[itex]T=\sum_{a}O_{a}= \sum_{ij} o_{ij} \sum_{a} |i>_{a}<j|_{a}[/itex] with [itex]a=1,2...,N[/itex]

How can we write this afterwards (for bosons) in respect to the creation and annihilation operators as:
[itex]T= \sum_{ij} o_{ij} c_{i}^{t} c_{j}[/itex]

From what I suspect, [itex]\sum_{a} |i>_{a}<j|_{a}[/itex] must be equal to the number operator... But for some reason I'm unable to see it...Also I tried taking this:
[itex]O= \sum_{ij} o_{ij} |i><j|[/itex]
[itex]O= \sum_{ij} o_{ij} c_{i}^{t}|0><0|c_{j}[/itex]
And then summing over the particles:
[itex]O= \sum_{ij} o_{ij} c_{i}^{t}c_{j} \sum_{a}|0>_{a}<0|_{a}[/itex]
but I see no reason why the sum must be equal to unity [itex]\sum_{a}|0>_{a}<0|_{a} =1[/itex]

Please give hints, not answers
 
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Consider a ##N##-particle operator ##O## as a sum of one-particle operators
$$
O = \sum_{i=1}^{N} O_i
$$
First assume that you can write it as
$$
O = \sum_{\alpha, \beta} \langle \alpha | O_1 | \beta \rangle c_\alpha^\dagger c_\beta
$$
If you change the basis, you can write
$$
O' = \sum_{\gamma, \delta} \langle \gamma | O_1 | \delta \rangle b_\gamma^\dagger b_\delta
$$
The creation and annihiliation operators satisfy the linear transformations
$$
\begin{align}
b_\gamma^\dagger &= \sum_{\alpha} c_\alpha^\dagger \langle \alpha | \gamma \rangle \\
b_\gamma &= \sum_{\alpha} \langle \gamma | \alpha \rangle c_\alpha
\end{align}
$$
Therefore,
$$
\begin{align}
O' &= \sum_{\gamma, \delta} \sum_{\alpha, \beta} c_\alpha^\dagger \langle \alpha | \gamma \rangle \langle \gamma | O_1 | \delta \rangle \langle \delta | \beta \rangle c_\beta \\
&= \sum_{\alpha, \beta} \langle \alpha | O_1 | \beta \rangle c_\alpha^\dagger c_\beta \\
&= O
\end{align}
$$
This means that the assumed representation of ##O## is independent of the basis. If you choose a basis ##| \gamma \rangle## that diagonalizes ##O_1##, then
$$
O = \sum_\gamma o_\gamma b_\gamma^\dagger b_\gamma
$$
where ##o_\gamma## is the eigenvalue associated with the ket ##| \gamma \rangle##, which is what we expected from the first formula above. Therefore, the assumption for the form of ##O## in any basis was correct.