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Physical Review A

Heisenberg-picture operator perturbation theory

Jay R. Ackerhalt, Kazimierz Rza̧żewski

Published Dec 1, 1975• 86 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We develop a systematic method of operator perturbation theory in the Heisenberg picture, which is the formal analog of time-independent stationary-state perturbation theory in the Schr\"odinger picture. However, we use the eigenoperators and operator eigenfrequencies to calculate the time evolution of the dynamical variables of interest. The spectrum of the unperturbed Hamiltonian is assumed to be discrete. The method is especially well-suited for treating systems where the unperturbed Hamiltonian represents noninteracting fermions and/or bosons, and therefore, we illustrate the method using the exactly solvable model of Jaynes and Cummings: a single two-level atom interacting with a single quantized field mode. The time evolution of these operator solutions is shown to be unitary order by order in powers of the interaction strength. We find that the time evolution of exact operator solutions is well approximated for significantly longer times by the time evolution of this method's operator solutions than by the time evolution of the same operator solutions calculated using the Dyson expansion. We also demonstrate that time-dependent operator solutions are very convenient for computing quantities such as correlation functions.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.12.2549

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We develop a systematic method of operator perturbation theory in the Heisenberg picture, which is the formal analog of time-independent stationary-state perturbation theory in the Schr"odinger picture. However, we use the eigenoperators and operator eigenfrequencies to calculate the time evolution of the dynamical variables of interest. The spectrum of the unperturbed Hamiltonian is assumed to be discrete. The method is especially well-suited for treating systems where the unperturbed Hamiltonian represents noninteracting fermions and/or bosons, and therefore, we illustrate the method using the exactly solvable model of Jaynes and Cummings: a single two-level atom interacting with a single quantized field mode. The time evolution of these operator solutions is shown to be unitary order by order in powers of the interaction strength. We find that the time evolution of exact operator solutions is well approximated for significantly longer times by the time evolution of this method's operator solutions than by the time evolution of the same operator solutions calculated using the Dyson expansion. We also demonstrate that time-dependent operator solutions are very convenient for computing quantities such as correlation functions.
Explicitly time-dependent Hamiltonians are ubiquitous in applications of quantum theory. It is therefore necessary to solve the time-dependent Schrödinger equation directly. The system’s dynamics is associated with a unitary time-evolution operator (a propagator), formally given as an infinite Dyson series. Time-dependent observables are invariant under unitary time-dependent transformations, where it is sometimes useful to transform the time-evolution from the states into the corresponding operators. This is carried out in part (in full) by transforming to the interaction (Heisenberg) picture. The corresponding equations of motion for the time-dependent operators are introduced. For quadratic potential energy functions, the time evolution of quantum expectation values coincides with the corresponding classical dynamics. This is demonstrated and analyzed in detail for Gaussian wave packets and a coherent state. Finally, we derive exact and approximate expressions for time-dependent transition probabilities and transition rates between quantum states. The validity of time-dependent perturbation theory is analyzed by comparison to exact dynamics.
The dynamics of the degenerate two-photon Jaynes-Cummings model in Heisenberg picture is investigated. By solving the Heisenberg equations, the exact solutions of the photon annihilation operator a( t), the atomic dipole moment operator σ-( t), and the population difference operator σ z ( t) are obtained. We demonstrate that the correlation functions for the photon annihilation and dipole moment operators can be directly evaluated from these exact solutions. The solutions of the time-evolution operators are shown to be quite useful in the calculation of two-time correlation functions. Furthermore, some results of the dynamical behavior of the average values for the photon number <n (t)>, the in-phase field component <X 1(t)>, and the population difference <σ z (t)> are demonstrated by computer simulations.
Starting from our idea of combining the Feynman path integral spirit and the Dyson series kernel, we find an explicit and general form of time evolution operator that is a ccc-number function and a power series of perturbation including all order approximations in the unperturbed Hamiltonian representation. Based on it, we obtain an exact solution of the Schrödinger equation in general quantum systems independent of time. Comparison of our exact solution with the existed perturbation theory makes some features and significance of our exact solution clear. The conclusions expressly indicate that our exact solution is obviously consistent with the usual time-independent perturbation theory at any order approximation, it explicitly calculates out the expanding coefficients of the unperturbed state in the non-perturbation method, and it fully solves the recurrence equation of the expansion coefficients of final state in the unperturbed Hamiltonian representation from a view of time-dependent perturbation theory. At the same time, the exact solution of the von Neumann equation is also given. Our results can be thought of as theoretical developments of quantum dynamics, and are helpful for understanding the dynamical behavior and related subjects of general quantum systems in both theory and application. Our exact solution, together with its sequence studies on perturbation theory [An Min Wang, quant-ph/0611217] and open system dynamics [An Min Wang, quant-ph/0601051] can be used to establish the foundation of theoretical formulism of quantum mechanics in general quantum systems. Further applications of our exact solution to quantum theory can be expected.
Modern quantum physics is very modular: we first understand basic building blocks (``XXZ Hamiltonian'' ``Jaynes-Cummings'' etc.) and then combine them to explore novel effects. A typical example is placing known systems inside an optical cavity. The Schrieffer-Wolff perturbation method is particularly suited for dealing with these problems, since it casts the perturbation expansion in terms of operator corrections to a Hamiltonian, which is more intuitive than energy level corrections, as in traditional time-independent perturbation theory. However, the method lacks a systematic approach.% and has largely remained a niche topic. In these notes we discuss how \emph{eigenoperator decompositions}, a concept largely used in open quantum systems, can be employed to construct an intuitive and systematic formulation of Schrieffer-Wolff perturbation theory. To illustrate this we revisit various papers in the literature, old and new, and show how they can instead be solved using eigenoperators. Particular emphasis is given to perturbations that couple two systems with very different transition frequencies (highly off-resonance), leading to the so-called dispersive interactions.
Abstract This chapter the reviews essential concepts and methods of time-dependent quantum mechanics. (1) Formal solutions of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. (2) The two-level system. (3) Interacting systems: The time-dependent self-consistent field approximation and the Ehrenfest approximation. (4) The Born–Oppenheimer approximation and nuclear potential surfaces. (5) Time-dependent Hamiltonians: A two-level system in a time-dependent field. (6) Non-adiabatic dynamics: The surface-hopping method. (7) Expressing the time evolution in terms of the Green operator. (8) Representations (the Schrödinger and Heisenberg representations, the interaction representation). (9) Time-dependent perturbation theory. (10) Quantum dynamics of the free particles. (11) Quantum dynamics of the harmonic oscillator. (12) The raising/lowering operators formalism. (13) Tunneling.
We discuss a new analytical approach to real-time evolution in quantum many-body systems. Our approach extends the framework of continuous unitary transformations such that it amounts to a novel solution method for the Heisenberg equations of motion for an operator. It is our purpose to illustrate the accuracy of this approach by studying dissipative quantum systems on all timescales. In particular, we obtain results for non-equilibrium correlation functions for general initial conditions. We illustrate our ideas for the exactly solvable dissipative oscillator and, as a non-trivial model, for the dissipative two-state system.