Abstract The nonequilibrium Fokker–Planck dynamics with a non-conservative drift field, in dimension $$N\ge 2$$ N ≥ 2 , can be related with the non-Hermitian quantum mechanics in a real scalar potential Vand in a purely imaginary vector potential -iAof real amplitude A (Mazzolo and Monthus in Phys Rev E 107:014101, 2023). Since Fokker–Planck probability density functions may be obtained by means of Feynman’s path integrals, the previous observation points towards a general issue of “magnetically affine” propagators, possibly of quantum origin, in real and Euclidean time. In below we shall follow the $$N=3$$ N = 3 “magnetic thread”, within which one may keep under a computational control formally and conceptually different implementations of magnetism (or surrogate magnetism) in the dynamics of diffusion processes. We shall focus on interrelations (with due precaution to varied, not evidently compatible, notational conventions) of: (i) the pertinent non-conservatively drifted diffusions, (ii) the classic Brownian motion of charged particles in the (electro)magnetic field, (iii) diffusion processes arising within so-called Euclidean quantum mechanics (which from the outset employs non-Hermitian “magnetic” Hamiltonians), (iv) limitations of the usefulness of the Euclidean map $$\exp (-itH_{quant}) \rightarrow \exp (-tH_{Eucl})$$ exp ( - i t H quant ) → exp ( - t H Eucl ) , regarding the probabilistic significance of inferred (path) integral kernels in the description of diffusion processes.
Abstract The nonequilibrium Fokker–Planck dynamics with a non-conservative drift field, in dimension N≥2 N ≥ 2 , can be related with the non-Hermitian quantum mechanics in a real scalar potential Vand in a purely imaginary vector potential -iAof real amplitude A (Mazzolo and Monthus in Phys Rev E 107:014101, 2023). Since Fokker–Planck probability density functions may be obtained by means of Feynman’s path integrals, the previous observation points towards a general issue of “magnetically affine” propagators, possibly of quantum origin, in real and Euclidean time. In below we shall follow the N=3 N = 3 “magnetic thread”, within which one may keep under a computational control formally and conceptually different implementations of magnetism (or surrogate magnetism) in the dynamics of diffusion processes. We shall focus on interrelations (with due precaution to varied, not evidently compatible, notational conventions) of: (i) the pertinent non-conservatively drifted diffusions, (ii) the classic Brownian motion of charged particles in the (electro)magnetic field, (iii) diffusion processes arising within so-called Euclidean quantum mechanics (which from the outset employs non-Hermitian “magnetic” Hamiltonians), (iv) limitations of the usefulness of the Euclidean map exp(−itHquant)→exp(−tHEucl) exp ( - i t H quant ) → exp ( - t H Eucl ) , regarding the probabilistic significance of inferred (path) integral kernels in the description of diffusion processes.
We first point out that nonrelativistic quantum mechanics formulated at imaginary time s = it can formally be recognized as the Fokker-Planck description of a classical Brownian motion, which occurs (in general) in a medium where particles are absorbed and emitted. We next offer a new formulation of quantum dynamics, which is basically the Langevin treatment of that Brownian motion. More explicitly, we derive a noise average representation of the transition probability W ( X", s"|X', s' ) in terms of the solutions to a Langevin equation with a Gaussian white noise. Upon analytic continuation back to real time W ( X", s"|X', s' ) becomes the propagator of the original Schrödinger equation, namely we have ⟨ X", t"|X', t' ⟩ = W ( X", it"|X', it' ). The main advantage of this approach is to permit a systematic application to quantum-dynamical problems of the mathematical techniques developed in the theory of classical stochastic processes, even when vector potentials and/or time-dependent potentials are present.
Recent progress in our understanding of quantum effects on the Brownian motion in an external potential is reviewed. This problem is ubiquitous in physics and chemistry, particularly in the context of decay of metastable states, for example, the reversal of the magnetization of a single domain ferromagnetic particle, kinetics of a superconducting tunnelling junction, etc. Emphasis is laid on the establishment of master equations describing the diffusion process in phase space analogous to the classical Fokker-Planck equation. In particular, it is shown how Wigner's [E. P. Wigner, Phys. Rev., 1932, 40, 749] method of obtaining quantum corrections to the classical equilibrium Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution may be extended to the dissipative non-equilibrium dynamics governing the quantum Brownian motion in an external potential V(x), yielding a master equation for the Wigner distribution function W(x,p,t) in phase space (x,p). The explicit form of the master equation so obtained contains quantum correction terms up to o(h(4)) and in the classical limit, h --> 0, reduces to the classical Klein-Kramers equation. For a quantum oscillator, the method yields an evolution equation coinciding in all respects with that of Agarwal [G. S. Agarwal, Phys. Rev. A, 1971, 4, 739]. In the high dissipation limit, the master equation reduces to a semi-classical Smoluchowski equation describing non-inertial quantum diffusion in configuration space. The Wigner function formulation of quantum Brownian motion is further illustrated by finding quantum corrections to the Kramers escape rate, which, in appropriate limits, reduce to those yielded via quantum generalizations of reaction rate theory.
The theory of statistical mechanics provides a powerful conceptual framework within which the relevant (macroscopic) features of systems at equilibrium can be described. As there is currently no equivalent capable of encompassing the much richer class of non-equilibrium phenomena, research in this direction proceeds mainly on an instance-by-instance basis. The aim of this Thesis is to describe in some detail three such attempts, which involve different dynamical aspects of classical and quantum systems. As summarised below, each of the last three Chapters of this document delves into one of these different topics, while Chapter 2 provides a brief introduction on the study of non-equilibrium dynamics. In Chapter 3 we investigate the purely relaxational dynamics of classical critical ferromagnetic systems in the proximity of surfaces, paying particular attention to the effects that the latter induce on the early stages of the evolution following an abrupt change in the temperature of the sample. When the latter ends close enough to the critical value which separates the paramagnetic from the ferromagnetic phase, it effectively introduces a temporal boundary which can be treated as if it were a surface. Within this picture, we highlight the emergence of novel effects near the effective edge formed by the intersection of the two spatial and temporal boundaries. Our findings are apparently in disagreement with previous predictions which were based on the assumption that the presence of such an edge would not affect the scaling behaviour of observables; in order to explain this discrepancy, we propose an alternative for the original power-counting argument which, at least, correctly predicts the emergence of novel field-theoretical divergences in our one-loop calculations. We show that said singularities are associated with the scaling at the edge. Moreover, by encoding our findings in a boundary renormalisation group framework, we argue that the new predicted behaviour represents a universal feature associated to the short-distance expansion of the order parameter of the transition near the edge; we also calculate explicitly its anomalous dimension at the first-order in a dimensional expansion. As a qualitative feature, this anomalous dimension depends on the type of phase transition occurring at the surface. We exploit this fact in order to provide numerical support to our predictions via Monte Carlo simulations of the dynamical behaviour of a three-dimensional Ising model. The main results reported in Chap. 3 have appeared in Ref. [1]. In Chapter 4 we revisit the Euclidean mapping to imaginary times which has been recently proposed [2, 3] as an alternative for approaching the problem of quantum dynamics following a quench. This is expected to allow one to reformulate the original problem as a static one confined in a film geometry. We show that this interpretation actually holds only if the initial state of the dynamics is pure. Statistical mixtures, instead, intertwine the effects due to the two boundaries, which therefore cannot be regarded as being independent. We emphasize that, although the aforementioned reinterpretation as a confined static problem fails, one is still able, in principle, to write down and solve the corresponding equations. We also discuss in some detail the relation between this approach and the real-time field-theoretical one which makes use of the two-time Keldysh contour. For this purpose, we study the analytical structure of relevant observables — such as correlation functions — in the complex plane of times, identifying a subdivision of this domain into several sectors which depend on the ordering of the imaginary parts of the involved time coordinates. Within each of these subdomains, the analytic continuation to the real axis provides in principle a different result. This feature allows one to reconstruct from the Euclidean formalism all possible non-time-ordered functions, which in particular include all those which can be calculated via the Keldysh two-time formalism. Moreover, we give a prescription on how to retrieve response functions, discussing some simple examples and rationalising some recent numerical data obtained for one of these observables in a one-dimensional quantum Ising chain [4]. We also highlight the emergence of a light-cone effect fairly similar to the one previously found for correlation functions [2], which therefore provides further confirmation to the fact that information travels across the system in the form of the entanglement of quasi-particles produced by the quenching procedure. We have reported part of this analysis in Ref. [5]. Chapter 5 presents part of our recent work on effective relaxation in quantum systems following a quench and on the observed prethermalisation. We analyse the effects caused by the introduction of a long-range integrability-breaking interaction in the early stages of the dynamics of an otherwise integrable quantum spin chain following a quench in the magnetic field. By employing a suitable transformation, we redefine the theory in terms of a fully-connected model of hard-core bosons, which allows us to exploit the (generically) low density of excitations for rendering our model exactly solvable (in a numerical sense, i.e., by numerically diagonalising an exact matrix). We verify that, indeed, as long as the parameters of the quench are not too close to the critical point, the low-density approximation captures the dynamical features of the elementary operators, highlighting the appearance of marked plateaux in their dynamics, which we reinterpret as the emergence of a prethermal regime in the original model. As expected, the latter behaviour is reflected also on extensive observables which can be constructed as appropriate combinations of the mode populations. For these quantities, the typical approach to the quasi-stationary value is algebraic with exponent a ≈ 3, independently of the size of the system, the strength of the interaction and the amplitude of the magnetic field (as long as it is kept far from the critical point). The plateaux mentioned above last until a recurrence time — which can be approximately identified with tR ≈ N/2 for single modes and t′R ≈ N/4 for extensive quantities — after which quantum oscillations due to the finite size of the chain reappear. Our procedure allows us to shed some light over prethermal features without having to considerably limit the size of the system, which we can choose to be quite large, as we discuss in Ref. [6].
Relaxation to equilibrium of a drifted Brownian motion is quantified by a transition probability density function, whose main (multiplicative) entry is an inferred Feynman-Kac kernel of the Schrödinger semigroup operator. Although seemingly devoid of a natural probabilistic significance (except for its explicit path integral definition), the pertinent kernel relaxes to equilibrium as well. The implicit Feynman-Kac potential V(x), continuous, confining and bounded from below, may take negative values. If positive, V(x) can be interpreted as the killing rate of the decaying diffusion process. In case of relaxing F-K kernels the killing effects are tamed (often overcompensated). The taming inavoidably appears in conjunction with the existence of the negativity subdomains of V(x) in R. If locally V(x)<0, its sign inversion −V(x) can be interpreted as the branching (cloning, alternatively bifurcation) rate in the course of the other wise free random motion. The arising killed diffusion processes with branching, we interpret as the possible path-wise background of tamed (relaxing) Feynman-Kac diffusions. We present acomputer-assisted path-wise arguments, towards a consistency of the killing/branching taming scenario, for a number of nonlinear model systems in one space dimension. Special attention is paid to Feynman-Kac potential shapes in the double well form, where an analytic access to eigenvalues and eigenfunctions is scarce. Throughout the paper the dynamics refers to the positive real time. Since the Newton-type equations of motion for admissible classical trajectories have a Euclidean form (due to the sign inverted force term), we give a brief resume of a couple of their explicit solutions, without recourse to the Euclidean time intuitions, and the instanton lore of related quantum model systems.
The equation of motion of a quantum particle(s) in a potential field will be introduced. The equation of motion should determine drift fields a (t, x) and the movement X t of quantum particles, accordingly. However, the interrelation between the equation of motion and the movement X t of a particle(s) is not so direct as in classical mechanics, and we must go into deeper mathematical structures of diffusion processes to clarify the relation. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Die theoretische und experimentelle Untersuchung stark korrelierter Quantensysteme im und ausserhalb des Gleichgewichts ist in den letzten Jahren zu einem zentralen Forschungsschwerpunkt in der Physik der kondensierten Materie geworden. In dieser Habilitationsschrift werden anhand eigener Beiträge aktuelle Entwicklungen diskutiert und ein Ausblick auf zukünftige Entwicklungen des Feldes gegeben. Es wird dabei ein direkter Bezug von theoretischen Zugängen zu aktuellen Experimenten mit ultrakalten Gasen und mit stark korrelierten Materialien genommen. Insbesondere werden mikroskopische Modelle diskutiert, die zur Modellierung stark korrelierter Materialien (wie z.B. Quantenmagnete) herangezogen werden. Das zweite Thema der Schrift behandelt die Realisierung und Untersuchung von Quantenvielteilcheneffekten in aktuellen Experimenten mit ultrakalten Gasen durch sogenannte Quantensimulatoren. Ziel ist es, aufgrund theoretischer Überlegungen Vorhersagen zur Emulation stark korrelierter Systeme zu treffen und, basierend auf numerisch exakten Simulationen, Vorhersagen für die Experimente zu treffen. Da solche Experimente insbesondere auch ausserhalb des Gleichgewichts durchgeführt werden können, knüpft dies direkt an das dritte Thema der Schrift an, in dem die Physik von Quantenvielteilchensystemen ausserhalb des Gleichgewichts untersucht wird. Dazu gehören die Behandlung des Relaxationsverhaltens nach sogenannten Quantum Quenches und Fragestellungen zum Transport, die hier anhand von Situationen auf optischen Gittern diskutiert werden. Die drei Themenbereiche werden überspannt von der Fragestellung, wie man neuartige Quantenzustände realisieren kann, und wie man diese charakterisieren kann. Ausserhalb des Gleichgewichts erwächst die Fragestellung, ob durch das Relaxationsverhalten ungewöhnliche Zustände erzeugt werden können. Wie in dieser Arbeit diskutiert, ergeben sich in der Tat unerwartete Ergebnisse, wie die Bildung negativer Temperaturen, oder das Anwachsen der Teilchendichte verursacht durch repulsive Wechselwirkungen. Im Gleichgewicht kann das Vorhandensein starker Magnetfelder zu interessantem Verhalten führen, wie anhand verschiedener Systeme diskutiert wird. Hervorzuheben sind hier die Bildung unkonventioneller Mott-Isolatoren, von Phasen mit 'spin-nematischer' Ordnung, und unkonventionelle Quantenphasenübergänge. Eine aktuelle Entwicklung der aktuellen Forschung behandelt die Bildung sogenannter topologischer Phasen, die nicht durch einen lokalen Ordnungsparameter beschrieben werden und sich somit der Charakterisierung im Rahmen der Landau-Theorie von Phasen und Phasenübergängen entziehen. Aktuelle Fragestellungen sind die Realisierung solcher Phasen im Vorhandensein von Wechselwirkungen, auch langreichweitiger Natur, wie sie in Quantensimulatoren mit polaren Molekülen in Erscheinung treten. In dieser Schrift wird diskutiert, wie diese Fragestellungen durch einen numerischen Zugang - die Dichtematrixrenormierungsgruppe - behandelt werden können und wie diese sehr flexible Methode zu interessanten Einsichten in die facettenreiche Physik stark korrelierter Quantensysteme führt.