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arXiv:2408.01039 · Quantum

Solving Caldeira-Leggett Model by Inchworm Method with Frozen Gaussian Approximation

Geshuo Wang, Siyao Yang, Zhenning Cai

Published Mar 24, 2025• 4 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We propose an algorithm that combines the inchworm method and the frozen Gaussian approximation to simulate the Caldeira-Leggett model in which a quantum particle is coupled with thermal harmonic baths. In particular, we are interested in the real-time dynamics of the reduced density operator. In our algorithm, we use frozen Gaussian approximation to approximate the wave function as a wave packet in integral form. The desired reduced density operator is then written as a Dyson series, which is the series expression of path integrals in quantum mechanics of interacting systems. To compute the Dyson series, we further approximate each term in the series using Gaussian wave packets, and then employ the idea of the inchworm method to accelerate the convergence of the series. The inchworm method formulates the series as an integro-differential equation of “full propagators'', and rewrites the infinite series on the right-hand side using these full propagators, so that the number of terms in the sum can be significantly reduced, and faster convergence can be achieved. The performance of our algorithm is verified numerically by various experiments.

DOI
10.22331/q-2025-03-24-1667

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We propose an algorithm that combines the inchworm method and the frozen Gaussian approximation to simulate the Caldeira-Leggett model in which a quantum particle is coupled with thermal harmonic baths. In particular, we are interested in the real-time dynamics of the reduced density operator. In our algorithm, we use frozen Gaussian approximation to approximate the wave function as a wave packet in integral form. The desired reduced density operator is then written as a Dyson series, which is the series expression of path integrals in quantum mechanics of interacting systems. To compute the Dyson series, we further approximate each term in the series using Gaussian wave packets, and then employ the idea of the inchworm method to accelerate the convergence of the series. The inchworm method formulates the series as an integro-differential equation of “full propagators'', and rewrites the infinite series on the right-hand side using these full propagators, so that the number of terms in the sum can be significantly reduced, and faster convergence can be achieved. The performance of our algorithm is verified numerically by various experiments.
Focusing on the real-time dynamics of the reduced density matrix of the multidimensional Caldeira-Leggett model, several techniques are adopted in this paper to reduce the spatial and temporal dimensionality, combined into an efficient algorithm. From a spatial perspective, an equivalent formulation of the Dyson series is presented. With the aid of a low-rank approximation, the spatial dimensionality of open quantum system simulations is halved. From a temporal perspective, the frozen Gaussian approximation is used to approximate both the evolution operator and the interaction operator in the multidimensional Caldeira-Leggett model. This reduces the high-dimensional integrals to one- and two-dimensional integrals independent of the truncation level of the Dyson series. Through these techniques, we design an efficient algorithm whose validity is verified through several numerical experiments, including a two-dimensional double slit simulation.
Abstract We investigate in this work a recently proposed diagrammatic quantum Monte Carlo method—the inchworm Monte Carlo method—for open quantum systems. We establish its validity rigorously based on resummation of Dyson series. Moreover, we introduce an integro‐differential equation formulation for open quantum systems, which illuminates the mathematical structure of the inchworm algorithm. This new formulation leads to an improvement of the inchworm algorithm by introducing classical deterministic time‐integration schemes. The numerical method is validated by applications to the spin‐boson model. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
In this thesis the path integral formalism is applied to the calculation of the dynamics of dissipative quantum systems. The time evolution of a system of bilinearly coupled bosonic modes is treated using the real-time path integral technique in coherent-state representation. This method is applied to a damped harmonic oscillator within the Caldeira-Leggett model. In order to get the stationary trajectories the corresponding Lagrangian function is diagonalized and then the path integrals are evaluated by means of the stationary-phase method. The time evolution of the reduced density matrix in the basis of coherent states is given in simple analytic form for weak system-bath coupling, i.e. the so-called rotating-wave terms can be evaluated exactly but the non-rotating-wave terms only in a perturbative manner. The validity range of the rotating-wave approximation is discussed from the viewpoint of spectral equations. In addition, it is shown that systems without initial system-bath correlations can exhibit initial jumps in the population dynamics even for rather weak dissipation. Only with initial correlations the classical trajectories for the system coordinate can be recovered. The path integral formalism in a combined phase-space and coherent-state representation is applied to the problem of curve-crossing dynamics. The system of interest is described by two coupled one-dimensional harmonic potential energy surfaces interacting with a heat bath. The mapping approach is used to rewrite the Lagrangian function of the electronic part of the system. Using the Feynman-Vernon influence-functional method the bath is eliminated whereas the non-Gaussian part of the path integral is treated using the perturbation theory in the small coordinate shift between potential energy surfaces. The vibrational and the population dynamics is considered in a lowest order of the perturbation. The dynamics of a Gaussian wave packet is analyzed along a one-dimensional reaction coordinate. Also the damping rate of coherence in the electronic part of the relevant system is evaluated within the ordinary and variational perturbation theory. The analytic expressions for the rate functions are obtained in the low and high temperature regimes.
A bstract We propose first-principle calculations of an open system based on the real-time path integral formalism treating the environment as well as the system of our interest together on a computer. The sign problem that occurs in applying Monte Carlo methods can be overcome in general by using the so-called Lefschetz thimble method, which has been developed over the past decade. Here we focus on the Caldeira-Leggett model, which is well known, in particular, as a model of quantum decoherence. In this case, the calculation simplifies drastically since the path integral becomes Gaussian for typical initial conditions. The relevant saddle point, which is unique and complex, can be determined by solving a linear equation with a huge but sparse coefficient matrix, and the integration over the Lefschetz thimble can be performed analytically. Thus we obtain, without assumptions or approximations, the reduced density matrix after a long-time evolution, tracing out a large number of harmonic oscillators in the environment. In particular, we confirm the dependence of the decoherence time on the coupling constant and the temperature that has been predicted from the master equation in a certain parameter regime.
We study the dynamical simulation of an open quantum spin chain with nearest neighboring coupling, where each spin in the chain is associated with a harmonic bath. This is an extension of our previous work (Wang, G.; Cai, Z. J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2023, 19, 8523–8540) by generalizing the application of the inchworm method and the technique of modular path integrals from diagonally coupled cases to off-diagonally coupled cases. Additionally, to reduce computational and memory cost in long time simulation, we apply tensor-train representation to efficiently represent the reduced density matrix of the spin chains, and employ the transfer tensor method (TTM) to avoid exponential growth of computational cost with respect to time. Abundant numerical experiments are performed to validate our method.
We study the real-time simulation of open quantum systems, where the system is modeled by a spin chain with each spin associated with its own harmonic bath. Our method couples the inchworm method for the spin-boson model and the modular path integral methodology for spin systems. In particular, the introduction of the inchworm method can significantly suppress the numerical sign problem. Both methods are tweaked to make them work seamlessly with each other. We represent our approach in the language of diagrammatic methods and analyze the asymptotic behavior of the computational cost. Extensive numerical experiments are performed to validate our method.