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arXiv:2602.14025

Semiclassical Phase-Space Dynamics of Emitter Ensembles with Local Dissipation

Lewis Ruks

quant-phSubmitted Feb 15, 2026• Announced Feb 17, 2026• 0 citations• Revised Oct 7, 2026 (v4)
v1 · Feb 15, 2026v2 · Feb 26, 2026v3 · Sep 3, 2026v4 · Oct 7, 2026
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Abstract

We establish that permutation-invariant emitter ensembles with local dissipation admit a semiclassical description on the four-dimensional phase space of a variable-length collective spin, within a perturbative truncated Wigner approximation (TWA). The TWA captures nonlinear dynamics and nonclassical signatures without prescribing closures of correlations. We cast a class of spatially extended emitter systems as interacting ensembles tractable in the TWA to show how quantum fluctuations reshape directional cooperative emission beyond mean-field predictions in a pumped chain containing tens of thousands of emitters, using hundreds of phase-space variables. Our results offer a unified description of collective dynamics beyond the classical limit in emitter ensembles.

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We establish that permutation-invariant emitter ensembles with local dissipation admit a semiclassical description on the four-dimensional phase space of a variable-length collective spin, within a perturbative truncated Wigner approximation (TWA). The TWA captures nonlinear dynamics and nonclassical signatures without prescribing closures of correlations. We cast a class of spatially extended emitter systems as interacting ensembles tractable in the TWA to show how quantum fluctuations reshape directional cooperative emission beyond mean-field predictions in a pumped chain containing tens of thousands of emitters, using hundreds of phase-space variables. Our results offer a unified description of collective dynamics beyond the classical limit in emitter ensembles.
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Phase-space approaches such as the truncated Wigner approximation (TWA) provide an efficient semiclassical framework for performing approximate simulations of the dynamics of open quantum many-body systems outside the reach of exact numerical methods but beyond the mean-field level. For bosonic systems, TWA is known to be equivalent to a Keldysh path-integral formulation truncated at second order in the so-called quantum fluctuations. This semiclassical approach provides an alternative transparent route towards approximate stochastic equations of motion, which can be efficiently solved. Here we establish the corresponding path-integral formulation for interacting open spin-1/21/21/2 systems using the continuous SU(2)\mathrm{SU}(2)SU(2) phase space. We show, in particular, that a consistent treatment of dissipation requires correctly mapping operator products onto the curved spin phase space, leading to stochastic equations that coincide with those obtained from the continuous TWA formulation and thus reproduce the exact dynamics of a single dissipative spin. Our results provide a unified field-theoretic foundation for the TWA to dissipative spin dynamics and offer a systematic starting point for extensions beyond the semiclassical approximation.
Interfaces of light and matter serve as a platform for exciting many-body physics and photonic quantum technologies. Due to the recent experimental realization of atomic arrays at sub-wavelength spacings, collective interaction effects such as superradiance have regained substantial interest. Their analytical and numerical treatment is however quite challenging. Here we develop a semiclassical approach to this problem that allows to describe the coherent and dissipative many-body dynamics of interacting spins while taking into account lowest-order quantum fluctuations. For this purpose we extend the discrete truncated Wigner approximation, originally developed for unitarily coupled spins, to include collective, dissipative spin processes by means of truncated correspondence rules. This maps the dynamics of the atomic ensemble onto a set of semiclassical, numerically inexpensive stochastic differential equations. We benchmark our method with exact results for the case of Dicke decay, which shows excellent agreement. For small arrays we compare to exact simulations, again showing good agreement at early times and at moderate to strong driving, and to a second order cumulant expansion. We conclude by studying the radiative properties of a spatially extended three-dimensional, coherently driven gas and compare the coherence of the emitted light to experimental results.
We review the truncated Wigner approximation (TWA) for spins as a computationally inexpensive numerical approximation method to describe interacting and / or dissipative many-body spin systems. Using the Wigner-Moyal mapping from Hilbert space to a suitable phase space, the many-body density matrix is represented by a c-number distribution, the Wigner function. The gauge freedom in continuous phase space can be exploited to find positive Wigner functions for a large class of spin states, including entangled ones. Employing different sets of correspondence rules, we derive equations of motion for the Wigner function, which, applying controlled approximations, can be mapped to stochastic differential equations. This allows a computationally inexpensive simulation of expectation values. Using a phase-space analog of the quantum regression theorem also multi-time correlations and spectra can be obtained. To illustrate the potential of the method, we benchmark the TWA for spins with some exactly solvable problems of interacting, dissipative spin systems, and then discuss its application to collective processes, such as the superradiant emission of light. Extending the TWA to imaginary time furthermore provides a tool to approximately calculate thermal and ground states of spin Hamiltonians. Finally, we show that the TWA stochastic equations can equivalently be derived within a path-integral approach, provided that the operator products in the dissipator are rigorously mapped onto the curved phase space.
Abstract We study the phase-space representation of dynamics of bosons in the semiclassical regime where the occupation number of the modes is large. To this end, we employ the van Vleck-Gutzwiller propagator to obtain an approximation for the Green’s function of the Wigner distribution. The semiclassical analysis incorporates interference of classical paths and reduces to the truncated Wigner approximation (TWA) when the interference is ignored. Furthermore, we identify the Ehrenfest time after which the TWA fails. As a case study, we consider a single-mode quantum nonlinear oscillator, which displays collapse and revival of observables. We analytically show that the interference of classical paths leads to revivals, an effect that is not reproduced by the TWA or a perturbative analysis.
We study the phase-space representation of dynamics of bosons in the semiclassical regime where the occupation number of the modes is large. To this end, we employ the van Vleck-Gutzwiller propagator to obtain an approximation for the Green's function of the Wigner distribution. The semiclassical analysis incorporates interference of classical paths and reduces to the truncated Wigner approximation (TWA) when the interference is ignored. Furthermore, we identify the Ehrenfest time after which the TWA fails. As a case study, we consider a single-mode quantum nonlinear oscillator, which displays collapse and revival of observables. We analytically show that the interference of classical paths leads to revivals, an effect that is not reproduced by the TWA or a perturbative analysis.