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Journal of Mathematical Physics

Path integrals and stationary phase approximation for quantum dynamical semigroups. Quadratic systems

Robert Alicki

Published Jul 1, 1982• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The solution of the Markovian master equation for the quantum open system of n degrees of freedom is formally written in terms of a path integral and the stationary phase approximation is discussed. The exactly soluble models with generators quadratic in position and momentum operators are investigated and the explicit expressions for the space–time propagators for one-dimensional systems are derived.

DOI
10.1063/1.525503

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The solution of the Markovian master equation for the quantum open system of n degrees of freedom is formally written in terms of a path integral and the stationary phase approximation is discussed. The exactly soluble models with generators quadratic in position and momentum operators are investigated and the explicit expressions for the space–time propagators for one-dimensional systems are derived.
We develop the path integral theory for master equations of general Lindblad form (positive semigroups), describing Markovian open quantum systems. First the Hamiltonian path integral expression for the propagator is derived, which exhibits nicely the decoherence of pairs of phase space histories. A very appealing picture arises in the semiclassical limit where the degree of decoherence is expressible in terms of a phase space decoherence distance functional. For the important class of (effective) Hamiltonians quadratic in the momenta, we derive the Lagrangian version of the path integral propagator. We then evaluate the path integral approximately in a stationary phase approximation, leading to a Van Vleck-type propagator valid under semiclassical conditions. We also derive the propagator for the soluble damped harmonic oscillator in closed form from path integrals. Finally, connections to the active field of stochastic pure-state descriptions of open quantum systems are established, here in particular to linear quantum state diffusion.
The integrals in the path integral are strongly oscillating and can only be defined by analytic continuation. It is important to note that the continuous expression is just a notation for the discrete version of the path integral, but formal manipulations will be much easier to perform in this continuous formulation. Furthermore, the integral is only defined through the analytic continuation in time. As long as the Hamiltonian is quadratic in the momenta, the stationary phase approximation for the momentum integral is exact. In practical situations one splits from the action the quadratic part in the coordinates and velocities and considers the rest as a perturbation.
In this work, we derived a semiclassical approximation for the matrix elements of a quantum propagator in coherent states (CS) basis that avoids complex trajectories; it only involves real ones. For that purpose, we used the symplectically invariant semiclassical Weyl propagator obtained by performing a stationary phase approximation (SPA) for the path integral in the Weyl representation. After that, for the transformation to CS representation SPA is avoided; instead a quadratic expansion of the complex exponent is used. This procedure also allows us to express the semiclassical CS propagator uniquely in terms of the classical evolution of the initial point without the need of any root search typical of van Vleck--Gutzwiller-based propagators. For the case of chaotic Hamiltonian systems, the explicit time dependence of the CS propagator has been obtained. The comparison with a realistic chaotic system that derives from a quadratic Hamiltonian, the cat map, reveals that the expression here derived is exact up to quadratic Hamiltonian systems.
Consistent dynamics which couples classical and quantum degrees of freedom exists. This dynamics is linear in the hybrid state, completely positive and trace preserving. Starting from completely positive classical-quantum master equations, we derive a general path integral representation for such dynamics in terms of a classical-quantum action, which includes the necessary and sufficient conditions for complete positivity and trace preservation. The path integral we study is a generalization of the Feynman path integral for quantum systems, and the stochastic path integral used to study classical stochastic processes, allowing for interaction between the classical and quantum systems. When the classical-quantum Hamiltonian is at most quadratic in the momenta we are able to derive a configuration space path integral, providing a map between master equations and covariant classical-quantum path integrals.
The general formalism for path integrals expressed in terms of an arbitrary continuous representation (generalized coherent states) is applied to give ccc-number formulations for the canonical algebra and for the spin algebra, and is used to derive meaningful stationary-phase approximations for these two cases. Some clarification of a recent discussion by Jevicki and Papanicolaou for the spin case is given.