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Extended TDHF approximation illuminates the approach to thermal equilibrium

Cheuk-Yin Wong, Haotian Tang

Published Jan 1, 1979• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

The region of validity of the TDHF approximation is extended by including the collisions between particles. The resultant equations of motion consist of a modified TDHF equation and a master equation for the occupation numbers. Concepts such as entropy, temperature, and thermal equilibrium can be quantitatively introduced. The well-known H-theorem that entropy never decreases is proved for nuclear systems. New types of level crossing formulas are obtained to shed light on how a nonequilibrium finite nuclear system approaches thermal equilibrium. 2 figures.

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Dynamics of nuclear fluid. V. Extended time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation illuminates the approach to thermal equilibrium

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In the time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation, the fermions are assumed to interact only through the mean field and the collisions between particles are neglected. We formulate an extended time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation which incorporates particle collisions due to the residual interaction, with the usual time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation as the collisionless limit. It is obtained by a truncation of the Martin-Schwinger hierarchy at the second level and by using a simple representation of the one-body Green's function in terms of time-dependent occupation numbers. The final set of coupled equations consists of a modified time-dependent Hartree-Fock equation and a master equation for the occupation numbers. These results are physically transparent and describe properly the physics of the collision process. They may also be simple enough to be of practical use to study heavy-ion collisions or the dynamics of other fermion systems. Furthermore, as the configuration-space analog of the quantum Boltzmann equation, many important results concerning statistical dynamics are obtained. Concepts such as entropy, temperature, and local and thermal equilibrium can be quantitatively introduced. The well-known $H$ theorem that entropy never decreases can be readily recovered. With the collision term explicitly exhibited, the macroscopic equations (equations of continuity, momentum flux, and energy) and their associated conservation theorems can also be derived. Analytic solutions for the master equation for simple cases lead to new "level crossing" formulas having characteristics distinctly different from the Landau-Zener level-crossing formula and illuminate the salient features as to how a nonequilibrium fermion system approaches thermal equilibrium.NUCLEAR REACTIONS Extension of time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation. Collisions between particles. Master equation for occupation probabilities. Entropy, temperature, and thermal equilibrium. $H$ theorem. Analytic solution of the master equation. New types of level crossing formula.

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Quantum Master Equation of a Particle in a Gas Environment

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The reduced dynamics of a Brownian particle is discussed in single collision approach valid typically in dilute-gas environments. Our main purpose is a consistent account of quantum friction caused by local environmental interactions. We derive a Lindblad master equation whose generators are calculated from the differential cross-section of single collisions between the Brownian and the gas particles, respectively. The existence of thermal equilibrium for the Brownian particle's state ρ is proved. Master equations proposed earlier are shown to be particular cases of our one.

arXiv:gr-qc/9403046•Europhysics Letters (EPL)•Apr 10, 1995•108 citations
The region of validity of the TDHF approximation is extended by including the collisions between particles. The resultant equations of motion consist of a modified TDHF equation and a master equation for the occupation numbers. Concepts such as entropy, temperature, and thermal equilibrium can be quantitatively introduced. The well-known H-theorem that entropy never decreases is proved for nuclear systems. New types of level crossing formulas are obtained to shed light on how a nonequilibrium finite nuclear system approaches thermal equilibrium. 2 figures.
In the time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation, the fermions are assumed to interact only through the mean field and the collisions between particles are neglected. We formulate an extended time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation which incorporates particle collisions due to the residual interaction, with the usual time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation as the collisionless limit. It is obtained by a truncation of the Martin-Schwinger hierarchy at the second level and by using a simple representation of the one-body Green's function in terms of time-dependent occupation numbers. The final set of coupled equations consists of a modified time-dependent Hartree-Fock equation and a master equation for the occupation numbers. These results are physically transparent and describe properly the physics of the collision process. They may also be simple enough to be of practical use to study heavy-ion collisions or the dynamics of other fermion systems. Furthermore, as the configuration-space analog of the quantum Boltzmann equation, many important results concerning statistical dynamics are obtained. Concepts such as entropy, temperature, and local and thermal equilibrium can be quantitatively introduced. The well-known HHH theorem that entropy never decreases can be readily recovered. With the collision term explicitly exhibited, the macroscopic equations (equations of continuity, momentum flux, and energy) and their associated conservation theorems can also be derived. Analytic solutions for the master equation for simple cases lead to new "level crossing" formulas having characteristics distinctly different from the Landau-Zener level-crossing formula and illuminate the salient features as to how a nonequilibrium fermion system approaches thermal equilibrium.NUCLEAR REACTIONS Extension of time-dependent Hartree-Fock approximation. Collisions between particles. Master equation for occupation probabilities. Entropy, temperature, and thermal equilibrium. HHH theorem. Analytic solution of the master equation. New types of level crossing formula.
Since the systems described by quantum fields are by definition extended, it is natural to think that in some limit they may reasonably well be approximated as fluids. This means that the state of the system is parameterized by a few locally well-defined fields such as temperature or energy density, obeying a set of hyperbolic equations of motion. A concrete example is the extensive use of fluid models to describe high-energy collisions [BelLan56, CarDuo73, CoFrSc74, Bjo83, CarZac83]. Our earlier derivation of quantum kinetic theory suggests a way to put this insight on a formal basis. Within its range of validity, the Boltzmann equation will drive the one-particle distribution function towards local thermal equilibrium. On scales much larger than the local thermalization scale, we expect to see hydrodynamical behavior [BeCoPa02]. This is, after all, the usual way of deriving hydrodynamics from kinetic theory [Hua87]. Beware, notwithstanding, that even at the level of classical kinetic theory there are still open questions regarding the cross-over from the kinetic to the hydro regime [KarGor02, KarGor03]. If we understand hydrodynamics as stated in the first paragraph of this chapter, then a system defined in terms of a quantum field may not have a hydrodynamic limit. This has been shown in [Elz02] for the case of a free Fermi field.
Entropy in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics is investigated theoretically so as to extend the well-established equilibrium framework to open nonequilibrium systems. We first derive a microscopic expression of nonequilibrium entropy for an assembly of identical bosons/fermions interacting via a two-body potential. This is performed by starting from the Dyson equation on the Keldysh contour and following closely the procedure of Ivanov, Knoll and Voskresensky [Nucl. Phys. A {\bf 672} (2000) 313]. The obtained expression is identical in form with an exact expression of equilibrium entropy and obeys an equation of motion which satisfies the HHH-theorem in a limiting case. Thus, entropy can be defined unambiguously in nonequilibrium systems so as to embrace equilibrium statistical mechanics. This expression, however, differs from the one obtained by Ivanov {\em et al}., and we show explicitly that their ``memory corrections'' are not necessary. Based on our expression of nonequilibrium entropy, we then propose the following principle of maximum entropy for nonequilibrium steady states: ``The state which is realized most probably among possible steady states without time evolution is the one that makes entropy maximum as a function of mechanical variables, such as the total particle number, energy, momentum, energy flux, etc.'' During the course of the study, we also develop a compact real-time perturbation expansion in terms of the matrix Keldysh Green's function.
We formulate a theory for the transfer of energy from collective degrees of freedom to internal degrees of freedom when the former belong to the adiabatic large-amplitude regime. The framework is that of an extended mean-field theory including dissipation, with the following salient features: (i) The Born-Oppenheimer approximation is extended to finite excitation energy by the introduction of the concept of thermal state, that is pure with respect to collective coordinates and a (square root of a)a)a) density matrix with respect to internal coordinates. (ii) By assuming that these states form an approximate complete set for application of the Kerman-Klein method, the self-consistent theory of large amplitude collective motion is extended to finite excitation energy. (iii) The mean-field limit is taken, and further study is carried out in the basis of natural orbitals that diagonalizes the one-particle density matrix. In the approximation maintained uniformly in this work, the equations of motion for the orbitals are shown to be of Hamiltonian form; to these are conjoined the master equations for the time rate of change of the occupation numbers. The latter are studied in two extreme limits. In the collisionless limit, dissipation still arises from the response of the mean field to the collective motion (one-body friction). At the opposite extreme, collisions are assumed to be so effective as to force the system always to be in a state of local (constrained) equilibrium. (iv) We review a procedure by which the noncollective variables in the Hamiltonian may be eliminated, leading to equations of motion for the collective variables with dissipative terms that in general depend on the history of the system. The limit of instantaneous friction can be justified in an adiabatic approximation. (v) A decoupling procedure is developed for deriving the form of these equations of motion from the mean-field theory, with the ultimate aim of obtaining the macroscopic parameters that appear in the classical equations of motion for the collective variables. This procedure generalizes that developed in extensive previous work on large amplitude collective motion at zero temperature. (vi) Associating the dissipative equations of motion for the collective variables with one of the assumptions concerning the rates of change of the occupation numbers provides a description of the relaxation of a system initially perturbed from a state of dynamic equilibrium.
The reduced dynamics of a Brownian particle is discussed in single collision approach valid typically in dilute-gas environments. Our main purpose is a consistent account of quantum friction caused by local environmental interactions. We derive a Lindblad master equation whose generators are calculated from the differential cross-section of single collisions between the Brownian and the gas particles, respectively. The existence of thermal equilibrium for the Brownian particle's state ρ is proved. Master equations proposed earlier are shown to be particular cases of our one.