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arXiv:2506.22738 · The Journal of Chemical Physics

Extended non-Markovian stochastic Schrödinger equation with complex frequency modes for general basis functions

Yukai Guo, Zeyu Huang, Xing Bao Gao

Published Sep 8, 2025• 1 citation
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We introduce an extended formulation of the non-Markovian stochastic Schrödinger equation with complex frequency modes (extended cNMSSE), designed for simulating open quantum system dynamics under arbitrary spectral densities. This extension employs non-exponential basis sets to expand the bath correlation functions, overcoming the reliance of the original cNMSSE on exponential decompositions of the spectral density. Consequently, the extended cNMSSE is applicable to environments beyond those characterized by Debye-type spectral densities. The flexibility to employ general basis functions is particularly advantageous for handling spectral densities with higher-order poles, for which exponential decompositions are often inaccurate or unavailable. The extended cNMSSE is implemented in a pseudo-Fock space using conventional ladder operators and solved efficiently via matrix product state techniques, preserving the favorable linear-scaling and wavefunction-based nature of the original method. Benchmark simulations across four representative cases, including discrete spectral density, Ohmic spectral density with exponential and algebraic cutoffs, and critically damped Brownian spectral density, demonstrate excellent agreement with results of hierarchy of forward-backward stochastic Schrödinger equations and extended hierarchical equation of motion.

DOI
10.1063/5.0290983

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We introduce an extended formulation of the non-Markovian stochastic Schrödinger equation with complex frequency modes (extended cNMSSE), designed for simulating open quantum system dynamics under arbitrary spectral densities. This extension employs non-exponential basis sets to expand the bath correlation functions, overcoming the reliance of the original cNMSSE on exponential decompositions of the spectral density. Consequently, the extended cNMSSE is applicable to environments beyond those characterized by Debye-type spectral densities. The flexibility to employ general basis functions is particularly advantageous for handling spectral densities with higher-order poles, for which exponential decompositions are often inaccurate or unavailable. The extended cNMSSE is implemented in a pseudo-Fock space using conventional ladder operators and solved efficiently via matrix product state techniques, preserving the favorable linear-scaling and wavefunction-based nature of the original method. Benchmark simulations across four representative cases, including discrete spectral density, Ohmic spectral density with exponential and algebraic cutoffs, and critically damped Brownian spectral density, demonstrate excellent agreement with results of hierarchy of forward-backward stochastic Schrödinger equations and extended hierarchical equation of motion.
Simulating non-Markovian open quantum dynamics is crucial for understanding complex quantum systems, yet it poses significant challenges for standard quantum hardware. These challenges stem from the non-Hermitian nature of such dynamics, which results in nonunitary evolution, as well as constraints imposed by limited quantum resources. To address this, we propose a hybrid quantum-classical algorithm designed for simulating dissipative dynamics in systems coupled to non-Markovian environments. Our approach includes formulating a non-Markovian Stochastic Schrödinger equation with complex frequency modes (cNMSSE) where the non-Markovianity is characterized by the mode excitation. We then employ variational quantum simulation to capture the nonunitary evolution within the cNMSSE framework, leading to a substantial reduction in qubit requirements. To demonstrate our approach, we investigated dissiaptive dynamics in the spin-boson model (SBM) and excitation energy transfer processes in both a prototype dimer system and the biologically relevant Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) complex.
Based on the stochastic unravelling of the reduced density operator in the Feynman path integral formalism for an open quantum system in touch with harmonic environments, a new non-Markovian stochastic Schrödinger equation (NMSSE) has been established that allows for the systematic perturbation expansion in the system-bath coupling to arbitrary order. This NMSSE can be transformed in a facile manner into the other two NMSSEs, i.e., non-Markovian quantum state diffusion and time-dependent wavepacket diffusion method. Benchmarked by numerically exact results, we have conducted a comparative study of the proposed method in its lowest order approximation, with perturbative quantum master equations in the symmetric spin-boson model and the realistic Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex. It is found that our method outperforms the second-order time-convolutionless quantum master equation in the whole parameter regime and even far better than the fourth-order in the slow bath and high temperature cases. Besides, the method is applicable on an equal footing for any kind of spectral density function and is expected to be a powerful tool to explore the quantum dynamics of large-scale systems, benefiting from the wavefunction framework and the time-local appearance within a single stochastic trajectory.
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We develop an exact framework for describing the non-Markovian dynamics of an open quantum system interacting with an environment modeled by a generalized spectral density function.The approach relies on mapping the initial system onto an auxiliary configuration, comprising the original open system coupled to a small number of discrete modes, which in turn are each coupled to an independent Markovian reservoir.Based on the connection between the discrete modes and the poles of the spectral density function, we show how expanding the system using the discrete modes allows for the full inclusion non-Markovian effects within an enlarged open system whose dynamics is governed by an exact Lindblad master equation.Initially we apply this result to obtain a generalization of the pseudomode method [B.M. Garraway, Phys. Rev. A. 55, 2290 (1997)] in cases where the spectral density function has a Lorentzian structure.For many other types of spectral density function, we extend our proof to show that an open system dynamics may be modeled physically using discrete modes which admit a non-Hermitian coupling to the system and for such cases determine the equivalent master equation to no longer be of Lindblad form.For applications involving two discrete modes, we demonstrate how to convert between pathological and Lindblad forms of the master equation using the techniques of the pseudomode method.
Embedding non-Markovian open quantum dynamics into an enlarged Markovian space offers a powerful route to nonperturbative simulations, where the dynamics of the extended space can be governed by multiple distinct Markovian equations. We show that these distinct embeddings arise from different unravelings of Gaussian bath self-energies, generating a family of deterministic, time-local equations for the extended system. Using the Brownian-oscillator spectral density as an illustrative example, we clarify the relationships among existing approaches, including the Hierarchical Equations of Motion (HEOM) and the Lindblad--pseudomode formalism, and demonstrate how this framework enables numerically stable and efficient simulations. This work provides both a transparent theoretical foundation for embedding techniques and a flexible platform for developing new methods to simulate non-Markovian quantum dynamics.