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Transport Theory and Statistical Physics

Projection operators for inhomogeneous systems

Georges Severne

Published Jan 1, 1971• 8 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A realization of the projection operators is proposed which makes it possible to apply the master equations as written by Zwanzig to the general case of a finite non-uniform system. The main characteristics of the method are: the realization is defined for a reduced description, the projectors do not operate in Hilbert space but provide a partition of the terms of a perturbation expansion; the approach is deductive, the realization deriving from the structure of the system Hamiltonian.

DOI
10.1080/00411457108231442

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A realization of the projection operators is proposed which makes it possible to apply the master equations as written by Zwanzig to the general case of a finite non-uniform system. The main characteristics of the method are: the realization is defined for a reduced description, the projectors do not operate in Hilbert space but provide a partition of the terms of a perturbation expansion; the approach is deductive, the realization deriving from the structure of the system Hamiltonian.
Abstract This chapter is devoted to the foundations and to the basic mathematical structure of the non-Markovian quantum dynamics of open systems. It gives a survey of the Nakajima–Zwanzig projection operator methods with the help of which one derives so-called generalized master equations for the reduced system dynamics. In the non-Markovian regime, these master equations involve a retarded memory kernel, i.e. a time-convolution integral taken over the history of the reduced system. The chapter also describes an alternative method of particular relevance in many applications, which is based on a time-local quantum master equation, and which is known as the time-convolutionless projection operator method. This method serves as a starting point for a systematic expansion in terms of ordered cumulants and forms the basis for a non-Markovian stochastic unravelling of the reduced system dynamics.
Abstract The not necessarily unitary evolution operator of a finite dimensional quantum system is studied with the help of a projection operators technique. Applying this approach to the Schrödinger equation allows the derivation of an alternative expression for the evolution operator, which differs from the traditional chronological exponent. An appropriate choice of projection operators results in the possibility of studying the diagonal and non-diagonal elements of the evolution operator separately. The suggested expression implies a particular form of perturbation expansion, which leads to a new formula for the short time dynamics. The new kind of perturbation expansion can be used to improve the accuracy of the usual chronological exponent significantly. The evolution operator for any arbitrary time can be efficiently recovered using the semigroup properties. The method is illustrated by two examples, namely the dynamics of a three-level system in two nonresonant laser fields and the calculation of the partition function of a finite XY-spin chain.
Using the recently discussed quantum dynamics in phase space, we derive a master equation, starting from the phase-space equivalent to the Schr\"odinger equation of motion for the density operator. Use is made of Zwanzig's projection-operator techniques and some explicit realizations of the projection operators are given. The master equation is then applied to show that the time-correlation functions, as defined in the text, satisfy an integral equation of the Volterra type. Next, a master equation for a system interacting with a large system is derived. As an illustration, we determine the lowest-order Born approximation and carry out a short-memory-approximation calculation for an oscillator coupled to a reservoir and for a two-level system interacting with an oscillator heat bath; we obtain equations of the Fokker-Planck type. Some physical implications of these equations are also discussed.
Abstract We develop a consistent perturbative technique for obtaining a time-local linear master equation based on projection methods in the case where the projection operator depends on time. Then we introduce a generalization of the Kawasaki–Gunton projection operator, which allows us to use this technique to derive, generally speaking, nonlinear master equations in the case of arbitrary ansatzes consistent with some set of observables. Most of the results obtained are of a very general nature, but when discussing them, we put emphasis on the application of these results to the theory of open quantum systems.
One of the main methods for describing the dynamics of open quantum systems is the method of quantum master equations. These equations describe the dynamics of the reduced density operator of a system interacting with a reservoir. In this case, averaging is performed over the degrees of freedom of the reservoir, which does not allow one to describe the dynamics of reservoir observables. In this paper we show that applying the Zwanzig projection operator method, which is used in deriving quantum master equations, one can also derive dynamic equations for reservoir observables. As an example, we derive dynamic equations for the average number of quanta (photons, phonons) of a bosonic reservoir in the approximation of its weak coupling to the system in the case of the dipole interaction Hamiltonian.