We propose a method for deriving Lindblad-like master equations when the environment/reservoir is consigned to a classical description. As a proof of concept, we apply the method to continuous wave (CW) magnetic resonance. We make use of a perturbation scheme we have termed "affine commutation perturbation" (ACP). Unlike traditional perturbation methods, ACP has the advantage of incorporating some effects of the perturbation even at the zeroth-order approximation. Indeed, we concentrate here on the zeroth-order, and show how -- even at this lowest order -- the ACP scheme can still yield non-trivial and equally important results. In contradistinction to the purely quantum Markovian master equations in the literature, we explicitly keep the term linear in the system-environment interaction -- at all orders of the perturbation. At the zeroth-order, we show that this results in a dynamics whose map is non-CP (Completely Positive) but approaches asymptotically a CP map as $t \to +\infty$. We also argue that this linear term accounts for the linear response of the system to the presence of the environment -- thus the harbinger for a linear response theory (LRT) within the confines of such (semiclassical) Lindblad-like master equations. The adiabatic process limit of the dynamics is also defined, and considerably explored in the context of CW magnetic resonance. Here, the same linear term emerges as the preeminent link between standard (adiabatic process) LRT (as formulated by Kubo and co.) and Lindblad-like master equations. And with it, we show how simple stick-plot CW magnetic resonance spectra of multispin systems can be easily generated under certain conditions.
A semiclassical approximation for an evolving density operator, driven by a "closed" hamiltonian operator and "open" markovian Lindblad operators, is obtained. The theory is based on the chord function, i.e. the Fourier transform of the Wigner function. It reduces to an exact solution of the Lindblad master equation if the hamiltonian operator is a quadratic function and the Lindblad operators are linear functions of positions and momenta. Initially, the semiclassical formulae for the case of hermitian Lindblad operators are reinterpreted in terms of a (real) double phase space, generated by a…
We derive an approximate Gaussian solution of the Lindblad equation in the semiclassical limit, given a general Hamiltonian and linear coupling with the environment. The theory is carried out in the chord representation and describes the evolved quantum characteristic function, which gives direct access to the Wigner function and the position representation of the density operator by Fourier transforms. The propagation is based on a system of non-linear equations taking place in a double phase space, which coincides with Heller's theory of unitary evolution of Gaussian wave packets when the Li…
We investigate aspects of the dynamics of a continuous atom-laser scheme based on the merging of independently formed atomic condensates. Our theoretical analysis covers the Markovian as well as the non-Markovian operational regimes, and is based on a semiclassical (mean-field) two-mode model. The role of the relative phase between the two condensates and the effect of interatomic interactions on the evolution of the trapped populations and the distribution of outcoupled atoms are discussed.
Semiclassical (stochastic) wave equations are proposed for the coupled dynamics of atomic quantum states and semiclassical radiation field. All relevant predictions of standard unitary quantum dynamics are exactly reproducible in the framework of stochastic wave equation model. We stress in such a way that the concept of stochastic wave equations is not to be restricted to the widely used Markovian approximation.
Semiclassical path integral expression for a quantum system coupled to a harmonic bath is derived based on the stationary phase condition. It is discovered that the system path is non-Markovian. Most strikingly, the system path not only couples to its past (as in the Langevin equation), but also to its future, i.e. the equation of motion for the system is an integro-differential equation that involves all times. Numerical tests are performed to confirm that the future-involved term is indeed necessary. Because of the future-non-Markovian nature of the equation, the numerical solution cannot be…
A single wave component of a quantum particle can in principle be detected by the way that it interferes with itself, that is, through the local wave function correlation. The interpretation as the expectation of a local translation operator allows this measure of quantum wavyness to be followed through the process of decoherence in open quantum systems. This is here assumed to be Markovian, determined by Lindblad operators that are linear in position and momentum. The limitation of small averaging windows and even smaller correlation lengths simplifies the semiclassical theory for the evolvin…
Effective descriptions accounting for the evolution of quantum systems that are acted on by a bath are desirable. As the number of bath degrees of freedom increases and full quantum simulations turn out computationally prohibitive, simpler models become essential to understand and gain an insight into the main physical mechanisms involved in the system dynamics. In this regard, vibrational decoherence of an I$_2$ diatomics is tackled here within the framework of Markovian quantum state diffusion. The I$_2$ dynamics are analyzed in terms of an effective decoherence rate, $Λ$, and the specific c…
The Lindblad equation governs general markovian evolution of the density operator in an open quantum system. An expression for the rate of change of the Wigner function as a sum of integrals is one of the forms of the Weyl representation for this equation. The semiclassical description of the Wigner function in terms of chords, each with its classically defined amplitude and phase, is thus inserted in the integrals, which leads to an explicit differential equation for the Wigner function. All the Lindblad operators are assumed to be represented by smooth phase space functions corresponding to …
We show theoretically how a driven harmonic oscillator can be used as a quantum simulator for non-Markovian damped harmonic oscillator. In the general framework, the results demonstrate the possibility to use a closed system as a simulator for open quantum systems. The quantum simulator is based on sets of controlled drives of the closed harmonic oscillator with appropriately tailored electric field pulses. The non-Markovian dynamics of the damped harmonic oscillator is obtained by using the information about the spectral density of the open system when averaging over the drives of the closed …
We present a generic Markovian master equation inducing the gradual classicalization of a bosonic quantum field. It leads to the decoherence of quantum superpositions of field configurations, while leaving the Ehrenfest equations for both the field and the mode-variables invariant. We characterize the classicalization analytically and numerically, and show that the semiclassical field dynamics is described by a linear Boltzmann equation in the functional phase space of field configurations.
We present the Markovian quantum master equation describing rotational decoherence, friction, diffusion, and thermalization of planar, linear, and asymmetric rotors in contact with a thermal environment. It describes how an arbitrary initial rotation state decoheres and evolves toward a Gibbs-like thermal ensemble, as we illustrate numerically for the linear and the planar top, and it yields the expected rotational Fokker-Planck equation of Brownian motion in the semiclassical limit.
We study the dynamics of the entanglement between two qubits coupled to a common chaotic environment, described by the quantum kicked rotator model. We show that the kicked rotator, which is a single-particle deterministic dynamical system, can reproduce the effects of a pure dephasing many-body bath. Indeed, in the semiclassical limit the interaction with the kicked rotator can be described as a random phase-kick, so that decoherence is induced in the two-qubit system. We also show that our model can efficiently simulate non-Markovian environments.
We propose a formulation to obtain the line shape of a magnetic response with dissipative effects that directly reflects the nature of the environment. Making use of the fact that the time evolution of a response function is described by the same equation as the reduced density operator, we formulate a full description of the complex susceptibility. We describe the dynamics using the equation of motion for the reduced density operator, including the term for the initial correlation between the system and a thermal bath. In this formalism, we treat the full description of non-Markovian dynamics…
A linear open quantum system consisting of a harmonic oscillator linearly coupled to an infinite set of independent harmonic oscillators is considered; these oscillators have a general spectral density function and are initially in a Gaussian state. Using the influence functional formalism a formal Langevin equation can be introduced to describe the system's fully quantum properties even beyond the semiclassical regime. It is shown that the reduced Wigner function for the system is exactly the formal distribution function resulting from averaging both over the initial conditions and the stocha…
We explore excitonic energy transfer dynamics in a molecular dimer system coupled to both structured and unstructured oscillator environments. By extending the reaction coordinate master equation technique developed in [J. Iles-Smith, N. Lambert, and A. Nazir, Phys. Rev. A 90, 032114 (2014)], we go beyond the commonly used Born-Markov approximations to incorporate system-environment correlations and the resultant non-Markovian dynamical effects. We obtain energy transfer dynamics for both underdamped and overdamped oscillator environments that are in perfect agreement with the numerical hierar…
Usually, when investigating exceptional points (EPs) of an open Markovian bosonic system, one deals with spectral degeneracies of a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian (NHH), which can correctly describe the system dynamics only in the semiclassical regime. A recently proposed quantum Liouvillian framework enables to completely determine the dynamical properties of such systems and their EPs (referred to as Liouvillian EPs, or LEPs) in the quantum regime by taking into account the effects of quantum jumps, which are ignored in the NHH formalism. Moreover, the symmetry and eigenfrequency spectrum of the …
