A basic formulation of the laser system is given in the form most convenient to study the time-dependent cooperative ( symmetry breaking ) behavior of the system in the far-from-equilibrium states from the microscopic and fully quantum-statistical-mechanical point of view. The quantum mechanical master equation, derived from a microscopic model Hamiltonian, is mapped onto a c-number function space with the use of the Boson and spin coherent states representations. The distribution function (mapped from the density operator) is expanded in terms of the Hermite polynomials and the spherical harmonics to obtain differential equations for the expansion coefficients with which time evolution of the laser system can be determined completely.
We study the Boltzmann transport equation for the Bose-Hubbard chain in the kinetic regime. The time-dependent Wigner function is matrix-valued with odd dimension due to integer spin. For nearest neighbor hopping only, there are infinitely many additional conservation laws and nonthermal stationary states. Adding longer-range hopping amplitudes entails exclusively thermal equilibrium states. Especially for small next-nearest neighbor hopping amplitudes, we observe prethermalization with two time scales, which can be related to the relative strength of the nearest and next-nearest hopping. We provide a derivation of the Boltzmann equation based on the Hubbard Hamiltonian, including general interactions beyond on-site, and illustrate the results by numerical simulations.
A method is presented for the systematic derivation of a hierarchy of coupled equations for the computation of two-time correlation functions of operators for open many-body quantum systems. We show how these systems of equations can be closed in mean-field and beyond approximations. Results for the specific example of the spectral weight functions are discussed. Our method allows one to access the full temporal evolution, not just the stationary solution, of non-equilibrium open quantum problems described by a Markovian master equation.
In a previous paper we showed how time-dependent projection operators may be employed to enable the Nakajima-Zwanzig projection-operator technique for deriving exact master equations to deal efficiently with two or more coupled classical or quantum systems, neither of which is reservoir like. We considered in detail the case where the relevant part of the classical-system probability-density function (PDF) or quantumsystem density operator (DO) is a product of the PDF's or DO's for the separate subsystems, and we applied the techniques developed to problems in quantum optics and in the kinetic theory of dilute nonideal gases. In this paper we make the time-dependent projection-operator approach useful for a greater variety of systems by allowing the relevant part of the PDF or DO to include correlations between two of the interacting subsystems. This extension allows us to describe well the dynamics of strongly interacting systems in a low degree of approximation while avoiding the use of infinite resummations. We derive exact generalized master equations in this manner for the same two cases as in our earlier work, namely a classical gas of
N molecules interacting via a two-body potential and a quantum-optical system of
N two-level atoms interacting with an electromagnetic field. In the former case, the relevant part of the PDF contains two-body correlations, and we obtain two exact coupled master equations for the singlet and doublet PDF's
F1(t) and
F2(t). In the latter case, the relevant part of the DO contains atom-field correlations, and the result is three exact coupled equations for the single-atom DO ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{1}(t)$, the field DO
R(t), and the DO for one atom plus the field $\ensuremath{\chi}(t)$. From the exact equations we derive approximate equations by making simplifying assumptions. In the case of the gas we carry out a straightforward density expansion of the ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \dot{}\else \.{}\fi{}}{F}}_{2}$ master equation and obtain a set of kinetic equations for dense gases, which have been derived previously by Frieman, Goldman, and Dorfman and which describe well effects due to the finite mean free path. In the quantum-optical case we derive kinetic equations for a single-mode laser by treating the $\stackrel{\ifmmode \dot{}\else \.{}\fi{}}{\ensuremath{\chi}}$ equation in the Born-Markoff approximation. The equations describe gain saturation and other effects on the field dynamics which are of infinite order in the atom-field coupling constant. It is shown that these equations reduce to previously derived laser master equations if atom-atom correlations can be neglected. Finally, we mention possible generalizations of the time-dependent projection-operator approach used in this paper and briefly discuss its application to other problems, including the kinetics of liquids, collisional line broadening, superradiance, and amplified spontaneous emission.