We derive an exact solution of an explicitly time-dependent multichannel model of quantum mechanical nonadiabatic transitions. Our model corresponds to the case of a single linear diabatic energy level interacting with a band of an arbitrary N states, for which the diabatic energies decay with time according to the Coulomb law. We show that the time-dependent Schroedingier equation for this system can be solved in terms of Meijer functions whose asymptotics at a large time can be compactly written in terms of elementary functions that depend on the roots of an Nth order characteristic polynomial. Our model can be considered a generalization of the Demkov-Osherov model. In comparison to the latter, our model allows one to explore the role of curvature of the band levels and diabatic avoided crossings.
The anomalous dynamical evolution and the crossing of nonadiabatic energy levels are investigated for exactly solvable time-dependent quantum systems through a reverse-engineering scheme. By exploiting a typical driven model, we elucidate the peculiarities of its dynamics with anomalous behavior: the evolution of the adiabatic states and of the nonadiabatic ones exhibits opposite behavior with their representative vectors evolving from a parallel state to an antiparallel state: the nonadiabatic level crossing is identified as a necessary consequence since the crossing point corresponds exactly…
The nonadiabatic transition probabilities in the two-level systems are calculated analytically by using the monodromy matrix determining the global feature of the underlying differential equation. We study the time-dependent 2x2 Hamiltonian with the tanh-type plus sech-type energy difference and with constant off-diagonal elements as an example to show the efficiency of the monodromy approach. The application of this method to multi-level systems is also discussed.
We discuss dynamics of approximate adiabatic invariants in several nonlinear models being related to physics of Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC). We show that nonadiabatic dynamics in Feshbach resonance passage, nonlinear Landau-Zener (NLZ) tunnelling, and BEC tunnelling oscillations in a double-well can be considered within a unifying approach based on the theory of separatrix crossings. The separatrix crossing theory was applied previously to some problems of classical mechanics, plasma physics and hydrodynamics, but has not been used in the rapidly growing BEC-related field yet. We derive ex…
We obtain the exact expression for the matrix of nonadiabatic transition probabilities in the model of three interacting states with a time-dependent Hamiltonian. Unlike other known solvable Landau-Zener-like problems, our solution is generally expressed in terms of hypergeometric functions that have relatively complex behavior, e.g. the obtained transition probabilities may show multiple oscillations as functions of parameters of the model Hamiltonian.
We demonstrate that the general model of a linearly time-dependent crossing of two energy bands is integrable. Namely, the Hamiltonian of this model has a quadratically time-dependent commuting operator. We apply this property to four-state Landau-Zener (LZ) models that have previously been used to describe the Landau-Stückelberg interferometry experiments with an electron shuttling between two semiconductor quantum dots. The integrability then leads to simple but nontrivial exact relations for the transition probabilities. In addition, the integrability leads to a semiclassical theory that pr…
We consider nonadiabatic transitions in explicitly time-dependent systems with Hamiltonians of the form $\hat{H}(t) = \hat{A} +\hat{B} t + \hat{C}/t$, where $t$ is time and $\hat{A}$, $\hat{B}$, $\hat{C}$ are Hermitian $N\times N$ matrices. We show that in any model of this type, scattering matrix elements satisfy nontrivial exact constraints that follow from the absence of the Stokes phenomenon for solutions with specific conditions at $t \rightarrow -\infty$. This allows one to continue such solutions analytically to $t \rightarrow +\infty$, and connect their asymptotic behavior at $t \right…
We examine the effect of nonlinearity at a level crossing on the probability for nonadiabatic transitions $P$. By using the Dykhne-Davis-Pechukas formula, we derive simple analytic estimates for $P$ for two types of nonlinear crossings. In the first type, the nonlinearity in the detuning appears as a {\it perturbative} correction to the dominant linear time dependence. Then appreciable deviations from the Landau-Zener probability $P_{LZ}$ are found to appear for large couplings only, when $P$ is very small; this explains why the Landau-Zener model is often seen to provide more accurate results…
We consider nonadiabatic systems in which the classical Born-Oppenheimer approximation breaks down. We present a general theory that accurately captures the full transmitted wavepacket after multiple transitions through either a single or distinct avoided crossings, including phase information and associated interference effects. Under suitable approximations, we recover both the celebrated Landau-Zener formula and standard surface-hopping algorithms. Our algorithm shows excellent agreement with the full quantum dynamics for a range of avoided crossing systems, and can also be applied to singl…
Avoided crossings of level pairs with opposite slopes can form potential energy curves for the external degree of freedom of quantum particles. We investigate nonadiabatic decay of metastable states on such avoided crossings (MSACs) using diabatic and adiabatic representations. The system is described by a single scaled adiabaticity parameter, $V$. The time-independent two-component Schrödinger equation is solved in both representations, and the nonadiabatic lifetimes of MSACs are determined from a wave-function flux calculation and from the Breit-Wigner formula, leading to four lifetime value…
Nonadiabatic transitions in non-Hermitian $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric two-level systems
College of Physics, Sichuan University（四川大学物理学院）；Key Laboratory of High Energy Density Physics and Technology of Ministry of Education, Sichuan University（教育部高能密度物理与技术重点实验室）；Fujian Key Laboratory of Quantum Information and Quantum Optics, College of Physics and Information Engineering, Fuzhou University（福建省量子信息与量子光学重点实验室，福州大学物理与信息工程学院）
Streaking of photoelectrons has long been used for the temporal characterization of attosecond extreme ultraviolet pulses. When the time-resolved photoelectrons originate from a coherent superposition of electronic states, they carry an additional phase information, which can be retrieved by the streaking technique. In this contribution we extend the streaking formalism to include coupled electron and nuclear dynamics in molecules as well as initial coherences and demonstrate how it offers a novel tool to monitor non-adiabatic dynamics as it occurs in the vicinity of conical intersections and …
We present a means of studying rare reactive pathways in open quantum systems using Transition Path Theory and ensembles of quantum jump trajectories. This approach allows for elucidation of reactive paths for dissipative, nonadiabatic dynamics when the system is embedded in a Markovian environment. We detail the dominant pathways and rates of thermally activated processes, as well as the relaxation pathways and photoyields following vertical excitation in a minimal model of a conical intersection. We find that the geometry of the conical intersection affects the electronic character of the tr…
A nonlinear Landau-Zener model was proposed recently to describe, among a number of applications, the nonadiabatic transition of a Bose-Einstein condensate between Bloch bands. Numerical analysis revealed a striking phenomenon that tunneling occurs even in the adiabatic limit as the nonlinear parameter $C$ is above a critical value equal to the gap $V$ of avoided crossing of the two levels. In this paper, we present analytical results that give quantitative account of the breakdown of adiabaticity by mapping this quantum nonlinear model into a classical Josephson Hamiltonian. In the critical r…
The time evolution is studied for the Landau problem with a general time dependent electric field ${\bf E}(t)$ in a plane perpendicular to the magnetic field. A general and explicit factorization of the time evolution operator is derived with each factor having a clear physical interpretation. The factorization consists of a geometric operator (path-ordered magnetic translation), a dynamical operator generated by the usual time-independent Landau Hamiltonian, and a nonadiabatic operator that determines the transition probabilities among the Landau levels. Since the path-ordered magnetic transl…
The chirped-pulse interaction in the adiabatic coupling regime induces cyclic permutations of the energy states of a three-level system in the $V$-type configuration, which process is known as the three-level chirped rapid adiabatic passage. Here we show that a spectral hole in a chirped pulse can turn on and off one of the two adiabatic crossing points of this process, reducing the system to an effective two-level system. The given hybrid adiabatic-nonadiabatic transition results in selective excitation of the three-level system, controlled by the laser intensity and spectral position of the …
We study the Landau-Zener Problem for a decaying two-level-system described by a non-hermitean Hamiltonian, depending analytically on time. Use of a super-adiabatic basis allows to calculate the non-adiabatic transition probability P in the slow-sweep limit, without specifying the Hamiltonian explicitly. It is found that P consists of a ``dynamical'' and a ``geometrical'' factors. The former is determined by the complex adiabatic eigenvalues E_(t), only, whereas the latter solely requires the knowledge of α_(+-)(t), the ratio of the components of each of the adiabatic eigenstates. Both factors…
We generalize the Brundobler-Elser hypothesis in the multistate Landau-Zener problem to the case when instead of a state with the highest slope of the diabatic energy level there is a band of states with an arbitrary number of parallel levels having the same slope. We argue that the probabilities of counterintuitive transitions among such states are exactly zero.
We have proposed and demonstrated a fast and robust method of population transfer between two quantum states using a quadratically chirped laser source. Incorporating the Jaynes-Cummings in a full quantum description of the interaction, and numerically solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation, transition probabilities have been obtained and the condition of the adiabatic passage is investigated. In this scheme, a laser source has been swept quadratically in time for arbitrarily engineering the transition probabilities. The results show that complete and robust population transfer could …
We calculate analytically the probabilities for intuitive and counterintuitive transitions in a three-state system, in which two parallel energies are crossed by a third, tilted energy. The state with the tilted energy is coupled to the other two states in a chainwise linkage pattern with constant couplings of finite duration. The probability for a counterintuitive transition is found to increase with the square of the coupling and decrease with the squares of the interaction duration, the energy splitting between the parallel energies, and the tilt (chirp) rate. Physical examples of this mode…
We investigate a detector scheme designed to measure the arrival of a particle at $x=0$ during a finite time interval. The detector consists of a two state system which undergoes a transition from one state to the other when the particle crosses $x=0$, and possesses the realistic feature that it is effectively irreversible as a result of being coupled to a large environment. The probabilities for crossing or not crossing $x=0$ thereby derived coincide with earlier phenomenologically proposed expressions involving a complex potential. The probabilities are compared with similar previously propo…
In the arrival time problem in quantum mechanics, a standard formula that frequently emerges as the probability for crossing the origin during a given time interval is the current integrated over that time interval. This is semiclassically correct but can be negative due to backflow. Here, we show that this formula naturally arises in a decoherent histories analysis of the arrival time problem. For a variety of initial states, we show that histories crossing during different time intervals are approximately decoherent. Probabilities may therefore be assigned and coincide with the standard form…
Engineered dissipation for faster adiabatic state preparation
International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University（北京大学物理学院量子材料中心）；Wilczek Quantum Center, Shanghai Institute for Advanced Studies（上海高等研究院费曼量子中心）；University of Science and Technology of China（中国科学技术大学）；Hefei National Laboratory（合肥国家实验室）；Beijing Key Laboratory of Quantum Devices, Peking University（北京大学北京量子器件重点实验室）
This paper presents analytic formulas for various transition times in the Landau-Zener model. Considerable differences are found between the transition times in the diabatic and adiabatic bases, and between the jump time (the time for which the transition probability rises to the region of its asymptotic value) and the relaxation time (the characteristic damping time of the oscillations which appear in the transition probability after the crossing). These transition times have been calculated by using the exact values of the transition probabilities and their derivatives at the crossing point …
Time evolution of spin-orbit-coupled cold atoms in an optical lattice is studied, with a two-band energy spectrum having two avoided crossings. A force is applied such that the atoms experience two consecutive Landau-Zener tunnelings while transversing the avoided crossings. Stückelberg interference arises from the phase accumulated during the adiabatic evolution between the two tunnelings. This phase is gauge field-dependent and thus provides new opportunities to measure the synthetic gauge field, which is verified via calculation of spin transition probabilities after a double passage proces…
