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Communications in Theoretical Physics

A Few Remarks on Milburn Equation

Chen Jun-Hua, Fan Hong-Yi

Published Jul 1, 2009• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

After presenting the infinite operator-sum form solution to the Milburn equation dρ/dt = γ(UρU † – ρ) = γU[ρ,U † ], where U = e -iH/ℏγ , and verifying that this equation preserves the three necessary conditions of density operators during time evolution, we prove that the von Neumann entropy increases with time. We also point out that if A and B both obey the Milburn equation, then the product AB obeys (d/dt) (AB) = γU[AB, U†] – (1/γ) (dA/dt) (dB/dt), which violates the Milburn equation, this reflects that a pure state will evolve to a mixture in general.

DOI
10.1088/0253-6102/52/1/19

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After presenting the infinite operator-sum form solution to the Milburn equation dρ/dt = γ(UρU † – ρ) = γU[ρ,U † ], where U = e -iH/ℏγ , and verifying that this equation preserves the three necessary conditions of density operators during time evolution, we prove that the von Neumann entropy increases with time. We also point out that if A and B both obey the Milburn equation, then the product AB obeys (d/dt) (AB) = γU[AB, U†] – (1/γ) (dA/dt) (dB/dt), which violates the Milburn equation, this reflects that a pure state will evolve to a mixture in general.
It is assumed that in a measurement the system under study interacts with a macroscopic measuring apparatus, in such a way that the density matrix of the measured system evolves according to the Lindblad equation. Under an assumption of nondecreasing von Neumann entropy, conditions on the operators appearing in this equation are given that are necessary and sufficient for the late-time limit of the density matrix to take the form appropriate for a measurement. Where these conditions are satisfied, the Lindblad equation can be solved explicitly. The probabilities appearing in the late-time limit of this general solution are found to agree with the Born rule, and are independent of the details of the operators in the Lindblad equation.
Abstract We consider the temporal evolution of an isolated system of N particles from a non-equilibrium state of entropy S = S′ to the equilibrium state of maximum entropy, S = S max, S′ ≤ S max. The application of usual density matrix theory to the temporal development of S leads us to dS/dt = 0: The entropy S does not change in time t. Thereby it is irrelevant, whether we consider a non-equilibrium state or an equilibrium state. Consequently, the system cannot irreversibly change by entropy production dS/dt > 0 from S′ to S max. This is a paradoxial result, which contradicts the experience. It can be traced back to the von Neumann equation, which in principle describes reversible processes and hence is unsuitable for calculating the irreversible evolution of the entropy S in time t. Each irreversible process is accompanied by a positive entropy production P = dS/dt ≥ 0 inside the system, which only vanishes in case of the equilibrium state. In order to overcome the above mentioned difficulties, we assign an operator P to the entropy production P, which is defined by the eigenvalue equation P |u〉 = P|u〉 with the state vector |u〉 of the N-particle system. There was an extensive discussion about the relation between the production of entropy P on one hand and the progression of time t on the other. Making use of this concept, we combine the operator of entropy production P with the time-development operator U (t, t 0) of the system and finally deduce the infinitesimal unitary operator U (t+τ,t) = 1 + (i/k)τ P by means of very general assumptions. Here P means the generator of the infinitesimal progression of time τ = t − t 0 and k the Boltzmann constant, representing the atomic entropy unit. Similarly to P we also treat the time t as an observable, defined by t |u〉 = t|u〉. We apply the infinitesimal time-evolution operator U (t+τ,t) to the operator of time t and finally obtain the P – t commutation relation i[ P , t ] = k, which is independent of τ. It shows that the operators P and t do not commute, and hence P and t are not sharply defined simultaneously. Instead we have uncertainties ΔP and Δt on measuring P and t, which are given by the P–t uncertainty relation ΔPΔt ≥ k/2. It readily allows a discussion of the evolution of the entropy S of the isolated system in time t from S′ to S max. Now, the irreversible steps are correctly described by the entropy production P = dS/dt > 0, while the thermal equilibrium is given by P = 0, ΔP = 0, and thus the lifetime of the equilibrium state Δt = ∞. According to the P–t uncertainty relation, the Boltzmann constant k is similarly important to the quantum thermodynamics of irreversible processes like Planck′s constant h to usual quantum mechanics.
We present chain rules for a new definition of the quantum Rényi conditional entropy sometimes called the “sandwiched” Rényi conditional entropy. More precisely, we prove analogues of the equation H(AB|C) = H(A|BC) + H(B|C), which holds as an identity for the von Neumann conditional entropy. In the case of the Rényi entropy, this relation no longer holds as an equality but survives as an inequality of the form Hα(AB|C) ⩾ Hβ(A|BC) + Hγ(B|C), where the parameters α, β, γ obey the relation αα−1=ββ−1+γγ−1 and (α − 1)(β − 1)(γ − 1) > 1; if (α − 1)(β − 1)(γ − 1) < 1, the direction of the inequality is reversed.
This work introduces a geometric framework in which the direction of time is identified with the normalized entropy gradient on quantum state space equipped with the Bures metric. The configuration space Γ = {ρ ∈ B(H) : ρ ≥ 0, Tr(ρ) = 1} is taken as the fundamental arena of physics — not an auxiliary description overlaid on a pre-existing spacetime, but the space from which spacetime structure may emerge. The von Neumann entropy S(ρ) = −Tr(ρ log ρ) defines a smooth scalar field on (Γ, g^B), and the time vector field T(ρ) = ∇S(ρ)/|∇S(ρ)| is its unit gradient. Five geometric consequences follow from this identification: (1) T is irrotational, implying a natural causal ordering; (2) the constant-entropy hypersurfaces Σ_c foliate Γ, suggesting spatial structure as entropy level sets; (3) the metric deformation g̃_μν = g^B_μν − 2T_μT_ν produces Lorentzian signature, with the coefficient −2 uniquely fixed by the requirement that T be unit timelike; (4) S acts as a global time function on (Γ, g̃), establishing stable causality and strongly constraining the formation of closed timelike curves; (5) K_μν = ∇^B_μ T_ν is symmetric and generates the extrinsic curvature of the entropy surfaces. These structures provide the geometric foundation from which gravitational dynamics are developed in the companion paper EFT: Entropic Field Theory. Within this framework the Wheeler–DeWitt equation HΨ = 0 can be interpreted as the condition ∇S_universe = 0: a closed system evolving unitarily preserves all eigenvalues of ρ, and therefore possesses no entropy gradient and no intrinsic time direction. The tension field f(ρ) = |∇S(ρ)| = √(Var_ρ(log ρ)) vanishes at two fixed points: the order pole (pure states on ∂Γ) and the chaos pole (the maximally mixed state). Time therefore disappears at both extremes, while physical processes occur in the interior region where f > 0. EQ(vT) establishes the geometric framework; the companion theory EFT provides the dynamical field equations.