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arXiv:2604.24603

Quantum vs. Classical Spin: A Comparative Study of Dipolar Spin Dynamics and the Onset of Chaos

Victor Henner, Alexander Nepomnyashchy, Tatyana Belozerova

quant-phnlin.CDSubmitted Apr 27, 2026• Announced Apr 28, 2026• 0 citations
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Abstract

We investigate the spin dynamics of a dipole-coupled system by comparing a direct solution of the Schrodinger equation for quantum spins with simulations of classical spins. Although classical spins have long been used in microscopic spin dynamics simulations, we demonstrate that their results differ significantly from those of quantum spins. Using Free Induction Decay as a benchmark, we find that while the overall patterns are qualitatively similar, significant discrepancies emerge at both short and long timescales. We trace these differences to fundamental distinctions in the two descriptions.

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We investigate the spin dynamics of a dipole-coupled system by comparing a direct solution of the Schrodinger equation for quantum spins with simulations of classical spins. Although classical spins have long been used in microscopic spin dynamics simulations, we demonstrate that their results differ significantly from those of quantum spins. Using Free Induction Decay as a benchmark, we find that while the overall patterns are qualitatively similar, significant discrepancies emerge at both short and long timescales. We trace these differences to fundamental distinctions in the two descriptions.
The problems of chaos and relaxation have a fundamental importance in the study of many-body classical and quantum systems. We investigate some of the issues related to these problems numerically in classical and quantum spin systems. New results reported in this thesis include: (i) A remarkably simple algorithm for discriminating chaotic from nonchaotic behavior in classical systems using a time series of one macroscopic observable. The effectiveness of this algorithm stems from the qualitative differences in the power spectra of chaotic and nonchaotic systems. (ii) A modified version of the Onsager regression relation applicable to pure quantum states. (iii) An efficient algorithm for computing the infinitetemperature time correlation functions in systems with large Hilbert spaces. (iv) Absence of exponential sensitivity to small perturbations in macroscopic nonintegrable systems of spins 1/2 . Such a behavior is contrasted with the exponential sensitivity to small perturbations in chaotic classical spin systems. (v) Accurate numerical investigations of free induction decay and spin diffusion in certain spin lattices. The consequences of these results have implications for the foundations of statistical mechanics or practical problems such as computing the long-time behavior of the free induction decay in solids.
We investigate quench dynamics in a one-dimensional spin model, comparing both quantum and classical descriptions. Our primary focus is on the different timescales involved in the evolution of the observables as they approach statistical relaxation. Numerical simulations, supported by semianalytical analysis, reveal that the relaxation of single-particle energies (global quantity) and on-site magnetization (local observable) occurs on a timescale independent of the system size L. This relaxation process is equally well-described by classical equations of motion and quantum solutions, demonstrating excellent quantum-classical correspondence, provided the system is strongly chaotic. The correspondence persists even for small quantum spin values (S=1), where a semiclassical approximation is not applicable. Conversely, for the participation ratio, which characterizes the initial state spread in the many-body Hilbert space and which lacks a classical analog, the relaxation timescale is system-size dependent.
Different classical models have been proposed to describe the dynamics of electrons including their spin degree of freedom by coupled equations for the orbital motion and spin precession. Two representative models with spin-dependent forces which originate from a classical limit of quantum mechanics and from purely classical considerations are compared exemplarily and benchmarked to the quantum dynamics as predicted by the Dirac equation. We demonstrate that different models can lead to different or even contradicting predictions how the spin degree of freedom modifies the electron's orbital motion, when an electron moves in strong electromagnetic fields. In this way, one may evaluate the validity and identify the limits of these classical models via a comparison with possible experiments to provide a suitable description of spin-induced dynamics for applications in many-particle systems.
We investigate the difference between classical and quantum dynamics of coupled magnetic dipoles. We prove that in general the dynamics of the classical interaction Hamiltonian differs from the corresponding quantum model, regardless of the initial state. The difference appears as nonpositive-definite diffusion terms in the quantum evolution equation of an appropriate positive phase-space probability density. Thus, it is not possible to express the dynamics in terms of a convolution of a positive transition probability function and the initial condition as can be done in the classical case. It is this feature that enables the quantum system to evolve to an entangled state. We conclude that the dynamics are a quantum element of nuclear magnetic resonance quantum-information processing. There are two limits where our quantum evolution coincides with the classical one: the short-time limit before spin-spin interaction sets in and the long-time limit when phase diffusion is incorporated.
We study a periodically driven macrospin system with anisotropic long-range interactions and collective dissipation, described by a Lindblad master equation. In the thermodynamic limit (N→∞N\to\inftyN→∞), a mean-field treatment yields classical equations of motion, whose dynamics are characterized via the maximal Lyapunov exponent (MLE). Focusing on the thermodynamic limit, we map out chaotic, quasiperiodic, and periodic phases via bifurcation diagrams, MLEs, and Fourier spectra of evolved observables, identifying classic period-doubling bifurcations and fractal boundaries in the regions of attractors. Finite-size quantum simulations in the Dicke basis reveal that while both quantum and classical systems exhibit diverse dynamical phases, finite-size effects suppress some behaviors present in the thermodynamic limit. The sign of λmaxλ_{\mathrm{max}}λmax​ serves as a key indicator of convergence between quantum and classical dynamics, which agree over timescales up to the Lyapunov time. Analysis of the density matrix shows that convergence occurs only when its nonzero elements are sharply localized. However, the nonconvergence does not imply a fundamental difference between quantum and classical dynamics: in chaotic regimes, although the evolution orbits of quantum and classical systems show significant differences, quantum evolution becomes mixed and diffusively explores the Hilbert space, signaling quantum chaos, which can be confirmed by the delocalized nature of the density matrix.