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arXiv:2306.15013 · Physica Scripta

Revisiting the damped quantum harmonic oscillator

Stephen Mark Barnett, James D. Cresser, Sarah Croke

Published Dec 27, 2023• 7 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract We reanalyse the quantum damped harmonic oscillator, introducing three less than common features. These are (i) the use of a continuum model of the reservoir rather than an ensemble of discrete oscillators, (ii) an exact diagonalisation of the Hamiltonian by adapting a technique pioneered by Fano, and (iii) the use of the thermofield technique for describing a finite temperature reservoir. We recover in this way a number of well-known and some, perhaps, less familiar results. An example of the latter is an ab initio proof that the oscillator relaxes to the mean-force Gibbs state. We find that special care is necessary when comparing the damped oscillator with its undamped counterpart as the former has two distinct natural frequencies, one associated with short time evolution and the other with longer times.

DOI
10.1088/1402-4896/ad1902

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Abstract We reanalyse the quantum damped harmonic oscillator, introducing three less than common features. These are (i) the use of a continuum model of the reservoir rather than an ensemble of discrete oscillators, (ii) an exact diagonalisation of the Hamiltonian by adapting a technique pioneered by Fano, and (iii) the use of the thermofield technique for describing a finite temperature reservoir. We recover in this way a number of well-known and some, perhaps, less familiar results. An example of the latter is an ab initio proof that the oscillator relaxes to the mean-force Gibbs state. We find that special care is necessary when comparing the damped oscillator with its undamped counterpart as the former has two distinct natural frequencies, one associated with short time evolution and the other with longer times.
We analyse the properties of a strongly-damped quantum harmonic oscillator by means of an exact diagonalisation of the full Hamiltonian, including both the oscillator and the reservoir degrees of freedom to which it is coupled. Many of the properties of the oscillator, including its steady-state properties and entanglement with the reservoir can be understood and quantified in terms of a simple probability density, which we may associate with the ground-state frequency spectrum of the oscillator.
We consider the global thermal state of classical and quantum harmonic oscillators that interact with a reservoir. Ohmic damping of the oscillator can be exactly treated with a 1D scalar field reservoir, whereas general non-Ohmic damping is conveniently treated with a continuum reservoir of harmonic oscillators. Using the diagonalized Hamiltonian of the total system, we calculate a number of thermodynamic quantities for the damped oscillator: the mean force internal energy, mean force free energy, and another internal energy based on the free-oscillator Hamiltonian. The classical mean force energy is equal to that of a free oscillator, for both Ohmic and non-Ohmic damping no matter how strong the coupling to the reservoir. In contrast, the quantum mean force energy depends on the details of the damping and diverges for strictly Ohmic damping. These results give additional insight into the steady-state thermodynamics of open systems with arbitrarily strong coupling to a reservoir, complementing results for energies derived within dynamical approaches (e.g. master equations) in the weak-coupling regime.
Abstract. The quantum theory of the damped harmonic oscillator has been a subject of continual investigation since the 1930s. The obstacle to quantization created by the dissipation of energy is usually dealt with by including a discrete set of additional harmonic oscillators as a reservoir. But a discrete reservoir cannot directly yield dynamics such as Ohmic damping (proportional to velocity) of the oscillator of interest. By using a continuum of oscillators as a reservoir, we canonically quantize the harmonic oscillator with Ohmic damping and also with general damping behaviour. The dynamics of a damped oscillator is determined by an arbitrary effective susceptibility that obeys Kramers-Kronig relations. This approach offers an alternative description of nano-mechanical oscillators and opto-mechanical systems. PACS numbers: 03.65.-w, 03.65.Yz, 03.70.+k 1.
The quantum theory of a damped harmonic oscillator has been continuously studied since 1939. For quantization, an oscillation oscillator usually uses a reservoir that includes a number of finite and discrete oscillators. However, a set of discrete oscillators is unable to study the quantum theory of an Ohmic damping (damping proportional to velocity). In this research, a continuous set of harmonic oscillators has been used to investigate Ohmic damping. Using a continuum reservoir instead of a discrete reservoir will enrich the results of the dynamic system. The results of this research can be used to study nano-mechanical systems and opto-mechanical systems.
Abstract The quantum dynamics of a damped harmonic oscillator is investigated in the presence of an anisotropic heat bath. The medium is modeled by a continuum of three dimensional harmonic oscillators and anisotropic coupling is treated by introducing tensor coupling functions. Starting from a classical Lagrangian, the total system is quantized in the framework of the canonical quantization. Following the Fano technique, the Hamiltonian of the system is diagonalized in terms of creation and annihilation operators that are linear combinations of the basic dynamical variables. Using the diagonalized Hamiltonian, the mean force internal energy, free energy and entropy of the damped oscillator are calculated.
The quantum model for a damped harmonic oscillator linearly coupled to a reservoir of continuous frequency modes has been exactly diagonalized either with or without the rotating wave approximation. The exact dynamics, formally described in terms of the coupling function, is analyzed for the Drude model. In this scenario, we focus on a class of couplings recovering the Drude form as a limiting case. The exact time evolution of the expectation values of the position, momentum and number operators are described through Fox H -functions, as well as the correlation function of the reservoir. In correspondence with the critical values of the frequency, discontinuities appear in the long time scale dynamics, arbitrarily slowing down the relaxations of the above observables. This effect allows one to enhance arbitrarily the lifetime of the excitations, giving relevant applications in the study of the quantum domain of opto-mechanical and nano-mechanical resonators. The critical frequency approach constitutes a further method of control in the scenario of environment-induced decoherence via reservoir engineering.