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arXiv:2302.02673 · Letters in Mathematical Physics

The semiclassical limit of a quantum Zeno dynamics

Fabio Deelan Cunden, Paolo Facchi A, Marilena Ligabò

Published Nov 6, 2023• 1 citation
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Abstract

Abstract Motivated by a quantum Zeno dynamics in a cavity quantum electrodynamics setting, we study the asymptotics of a family of symbols corresponding to a truncated momentum operator, in the semiclassical limit of vanishing Planck constant $$\hbar \rightarrow 0$$ ħ → 0 and large quantum number $$N\rightarrow \infty $$ N → ∞ , with $$\hbar N$$ ħ N kept fixed. In a suitable topology, the limit is the discontinuous symbol $$p\chi _D(x,p)$$ p χ D ( x , p ) where $$\chi _D$$ χ D is the characteristic function of the classically permitted region D in phase space. A refined analysis shows that the symbol is asymptotically close to the function $$p\chi _D^{(N)}(x,p)$$ p χ D ( N ) ( x , p ) , where $$\chi _D^{(N)}$$ χ D ( N ) is a smooth version of $$\chi _D$$ χ D related to the integrated Airy function. We also discuss the limit from a dynamical point of view.

DOI
10.1007/s11005-023-01730-7

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Abstract. The evolution of a quantum system subjected to infinitely many measurements in a finite time interval is confined in a proper subspace of the Hilbert space. This phenomenon is called “quantum Zeno effect”: a particle under intensive observation does not evolve. This effect is at variance with the classical evolution, which obviously is not affected by any observations. By a semiclassical analysis we will show that the quantum Zeno effect vanishes at all orders, when the Planck constant tends to zero, and thus it is a purely quantum phenomenon without classical analog, at the same level of tunneling. PACS numbers: 03.65.Sq, 03.65.Xp ar
Abstract An infinite potential well, truncated at finite height, provides a simple model for studying the effect of nonanalyticity on semiclassical approximations. An exact quantization condition for the bound states separates the effects associated with the untruncated well from those of the truncation. Because the truncation occurs beyond the classical turning points, it has no effect to any finite order in powers of Planck’s constant. The truncation contribution is exponentially small and depends on the potential in the classically forbidden region. The contribution associated with the well, when consistently approximated beyond all semiclassical orders, also leads to a small exponential, depending on the potential in the classically allowed region. Both exponentially small contributions can be extracted by asymptotic analysis, with explicit results in the simple case of a linear well. This combination of several different semiclassical techniques could be pedagogically useful as an exercise in teaching physical asymptotics at the postgraduate level.
The algebra of polynomials in operators that represent generalized coordinate and momentum and depend on the Planck constant is defined. The Planck constant is treated as the parameter taking values between zero and some nonvanishing h0h_0h0​. For the second of these two extreme values, introduced operatorial algebra becomes equivalent to the algebra of observables of quantum mechanical system defined in the standard manner by operators in the Hilbert space. For the vanishing Planck constant, the generalized algebra gives the operator formulation of classical mechanics since it is equivalent to the algebra of variables of classical mechanical system defined, as usually, by functions over the phase space. In this way, the semiclassical limit of kinematical part of quantum mechanics is established through the generalized operatorial framework.
The evolution of a quantum system subjected to infinitely many measurements in a finite time interval is confined in a proper subspace of the Hilbert space. This phenomenon is called 'quantum Zeno effect': a particle under intensive observation which does not evolve. This effect is at variance with the classical evolution, which obviously is not affected by any observations. By a semiclassical analysis, we will show that the quantum Zeno effect vanishes at all orders, when the Planck constant tends to zero, and thus it is a purely quantum phenomenon without classical analog, at the same level of tunneling.
We are interested in this paper with the connection between the dynamics of a model related to Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) in Quantum Field Theory (QFT) with its classical counterpart known as the Maxwell-Bloch equations. The model in QFT is a model of Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) considering fixed spins interacting with the quantized electromagnetic field in an external constant magnetic field. This model is close to the common spin-boson model. The classical model goes back to F. Bloch [15] in 1946. Our goal is not only to study the derivation of the Maxwell-Bloch equations but to also establish a semiclassical asymptotic expansion of arbitrary high orders with control of the error terms of this standard nonlinear classical motion equations. This provides therefore quantum corrections of any order in powers of the semiclassical parameter of the Bloch equations. Besides, the asymptotic expansion for the photon number is also analyzed and a law describing the photon number time evolution is written down involving the radiation field polarization. Since the quantum photon state Hilbert space (radiation field) is infinite dimensional we are thus concerned in this article with the issue of semiclassical calculus in an infinite dimensional setting. In this regard, we are studying standard notions as Wick and anti-Wick quantizations, heat operator, Beals characterization theorem and compositions of symbols in the infinite dimensional context which can have their own interest.
Semiclassical approximations to quantum dynamics are almost as old as quantum mechanics itself. In the approach pioneered by Wigner, the evolution of his quasiprobability density function on phase space is expressed as an asymptotic series in increasing powers of Planck's constant, with the classical Liouvillean evolution as leading term. Successive semiclassical approximations to quantum dynamics are defined by successive terms in the series. We consider a complementary approach, which explores the quantum-clssical interface from the other direction. Classical dynamics is formulated in Hilbert space, with the Groenewold quasidensity operator as the image of the Liouville density on phase space. The evolution of the Groenewold operator is then expressed as an asymptotic series in increasing powers of Planck's constant. Successive semiquantum approximations to classical dynamics are defined by successive terms in this series, with the familiar quantum evolution as leading term.