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arXiv:1407.4178 · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical

Perturbation methods for the non-Markovian quantum state diffusion equation

Jie Xu, Xinyu Zhao, Jun Jing, Lian-Ao Wu, Ting Yu

Published Oct 9, 2014• 25 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Two perturbation methods for the non-Markovian quantum state diffusion (NMQSD) equation are investigated in this paper. The first perturbation method under investigation is based on a functional expansion of the NMQSD equation, while the second expands the NMQSD equation in terms of coupling strength between the system and its environment. We compare the two perturbation methods by solving the dynamics of a bipartite system in which the two perturbation methods can be compared with the exact NMQSD equation. In addition, as an application, we provide an analytical solution for a special family of the systemʼs initial states, and discuss the entanglement dynamics based on this solution.

DOI
10.1088/1751-8113/47/43/435301

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Two perturbation methods for the non-Markovian quantum state diffusion (NMQSD) equation are investigated in this paper. The first perturbation method under investigation is based on a functional expansion of the NMQSD equation, while the second expands the NMQSD equation in terms of coupling strength between the system and its environment. We compare the two perturbation methods by solving the dynamics of a bipartite system in which the two perturbation methods can be compared with the exact NMQSD equation. In addition, as an application, we provide an analytical solution for a special family of the systemʼs initial states, and discuss the entanglement dynamics based on this solution.
The numerical simulation of non-Markovian open quantum systems based on the non-Markovian quantum state diffusion (NMQSD) equation is complicated by functional derivatives with respect to the stochastic process. A general numerical framework that directly treats these functional derivatives without relying on prescribed decompositions of the bath correlation function is still lacking. In this work, we derive an analytical solution of the linear NMQSD equation that reveals three elementary structures of the non-Markovian stochastic dynamics: stochastic propagation, functional-derivative insertion, and memory pairing. Based on this structure, we construct a general auxiliary-state framework for arbitrary bath correlation functions. The framework separates the numerical construction into time discretization, memory quadrature, and hierarchy truncation. We then construct first- and second-order schemes and provide diagrammatic transition rules for their explicit implementation. Numerical results verify the expected temporal accuracy and demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methods to different bath correlation functions and multi-level quantum systems.
Non-Markovian quantum state diffusion (NMQSD) is a non-relativistic but otherwise exact theory which expresses the reduced density matrix of an arbitrary subsystem, interacting linearly with an uncoupled harmonic oscillator bath, as an average of diadics formed from state vectors which obey stochastic variational-differential equations. The vacuum radiation field can be represented as such an oscillator bath, and so this model is in widespread use in quantum optics. Prior to the development of NMQSD, exact subsystem solutions could only be obtained in a few special cases (e.g. spin-1/2, harmonic oscillator). Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to obtain exact solutions to new problems using NMQSD due to the difficulty of solving the variational-differential equations. Here we show that these equations can be transformed into a pair of coupled nonlinear integrodifferential equations. We develop exact numerical methods for the integrodifferential equations and show that solutions can be readily obtained to good accuracy for quite general subsystems. We exactly solve various examples including tunneling in a double well representing molecular isomerization or racemization, suppression of fluorescence from a two-level atom in a band gap, and intermittent fluorescence from a driven three level system representing electronic states of singly ionized magnesium.
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To find a practical scheme to numerically solve the non-Markovian Quantum State Diffusion equation (NMQSD), one often uses a functional expansion of the functional derivative that appears in the general NMQSD equation. This expansion leads to a hierarchy of coupled operators. It turned out that if one takes only the zeroth order term into account, one has a very efficient method that agrees remarkably well with the exact results for many cases of interest. We denote this approach as zeroth order functional expansion (ZOFE). In the present work, we investigate two extensions of ZOFE. Firstly, we investigate how the hierarchy converges when taking higher orders into account (which, however, leads to a fast increase in numerical size). Secondly, we demonstrate that by using a terminator that approximates the higher order contributions, one can obtain significant improvement, at hardly any additional computational cost. We carry out our investigations for the case of absorption spectra of molecular aggregates.
Non-Markovian Quantum State Diffusion: Application to Quantum Jumps in 24^{24}24Mg+^++
Non-Markovian quantum state diffusion (NMQSD) is an exact method for calculating the reduced density matrix of an arbitrary subsystem interacting linearly with the radiation field. Applications of the theory have however been few due to the intractable nature of the variational-differential NMQSD evolution equation. Recently, we argued that the variational-differential equation can be rewritten as an integrodifferential equation which can be readily solved numerically. This manuscript provides an explicit derivation of the modified equations. Applications to intermittent fluorescence in 24^{24}24Mg+^++ are discussed in detail. Earlier speculations that quantum jumps occur on all time scales are verified on a picosecond timescale. We show that a plot of the probability density of the signal vs signal strength shows the two characteristic peaks associated with the bright and dark manifolds, and that the ratio of the areas under the peaks is 16 as observed experimentally. We also show that the shape of this distribution is sensitive to bath memory, but has a mathematical form common to both the Markovian and non-Markovian cases.
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