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American Journal of Physics

Correlation in the Langevin theory of Brownian motion

X. L. Li, G. W. Ford, Robert F. O’Connell

Published Oct 1, 1993• 15 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In a paper with the same title as the above, Manoliu and Kittel calculated the high temperature ensemble average of the nonequal time product of the displacement and random force in the classical Brownian motion problem. Here, using a generalized quantum Langevin equation (GLE), we generalize these considerations to the quantum case and to the case of an arbitrary heat bath (such as, e.g., the blackbody radiation heat bath). Also, we consider an arbitrary temperature and we generalize beyond Brownian motion to the case of a harmonically bound particle in a heat bath. In addition, we point out that correlations of the type considered are widely used in many applications in a variety of different areas of physics and we review some recent applications of the GLE.

DOI
10.1119/1.17365

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In a paper with the same title as the above, Manoliu and Kittel calculated the high temperature ensemble average of the nonequal time product of the displacement and random force in the classical Brownian motion problem. Here, using a generalized quantum Langevin equation (GLE), we generalize these considerations to the quantum case and to the case of an arbitrary heat bath (such as, e.g., the blackbody radiation heat bath). Also, we consider an arbitrary temperature and we generalize beyond Brownian motion to the case of a harmonically bound particle in a heat bath. In addition, we point out that correlations of the type considered are widely used in many applications in a variety of different areas of physics and we review some recent applications of the GLE.
In Chapter I of this dissertation, we present a pedagogical introduction to the basic concepts of stochastic theory and review the progress made as well as the outstanding unsolved problems in the field. For the rest of this dissertation, we use a generalized quantum Langevin equation (GLE) approach to investigate various properties of quantum dissipative systems. In Chapter II, calculations for the displacement and random force correlation functions for Brownian motion are generalized to the case of an arbitrary heat bath for a damped harmonic quantum oscillator. The mean square displacement of such an oscillator is then evaluated for both Ohmic and blackbody radiation heat baths, to determine the effects of many parameters on the localization of the oscillator. In Chapter III, the formalism is extended to the Brownian motion of a charged particle in an external magnetic field as well as in a potential. The influence of the magnetic field on the memory function and random force is determined, with the blackbody radiation heat bath analyzed as a special case. For a charged harmonic oscillator, the generalized susceptibility is obtained, which enables us to derive the symmetrized position correlation functions using the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. In addition, we obtain the free energy of the system by generalizing the "remarkable formula" of Ford, Lewis, and O'Connell. Explicit calculations are performed for Ohmic and blackbody radiation heat baths. Furthermore, the effect of dissipation on the localization of the oscillator in an Ohmic heat bath at zero temperature is shown to differ qualitatively from that without the magnetic field. Finally, we formulate retarded Green's functions and symmetrized position correlation functions for the oscillator, reach some general conclusions, and make explicit calculations for the Ohmic heat bath. For the special case of Brownian motion at both zero and nonzero temperatures, we prove two general asymptotic relations between the retarded Green's functions and the displacement correlation functions, which we use to evaluate the long-time behaviors of the latter from those of the former, for both the Ohmic heat bath and a rather general class of heat baths discussed extensively in the literature.
In the frames of classical mechanics the generalized Langevin equation is derived for an arbitrary mechanical subsystem coupled to the harmonic bath of a solid. A time-acting temperature operator is introduced for the quantum Klein-Kramers and Smoluchowski equations, accounting for the effect of the quantum thermal bath oscillators. The model of Brownian emitters is theoretically studied and the relevant evolutionary equations for the probability density are derived. The Schrodinger equation is explained via collisions of the target point particles with the quantum force carriers, transmitting the fundamental interactions between the point particles. Thus, electrons and other point particles are no waves and the wavy chapter of quantum mechanics originated for the force carriers. A stochastic Lorentz-Langevin equation is proposed to describe the underlaying Brownian-like motion of the point particles in quantum mechanics. Considering the Brownian dynamics in the frames of the Bohmian mechanics, the density functional Bohm-Langevin equation is proposed, and the relevant Smoluchowski-Bohm equation is derived. A nonlinear master equation is proposed by proper quantization of the classical Klein-Kramers equation. Its equilibrium solution in the exact canonical Gibbs density operator, while the well-known Caldeira-Leggett equation is simply a linearization at high temperature. In the case of a free quantum Brownian particles, a new law for the spreading of the wave packet it discovered, which represents the quantum generalization of the classical Einstein law of Brownian motion. A new projector operator is proposed for the collapse of the wave function of a quantum particle moving in a classical environment. Its application results in dissipative Schrodinger equations, as well as in a new form of dissipative Liouville equation in classical mechanics.
We derive a ccc-number generalized Langevin equation (GLE) describing the evolution of the expectation values ${\ensuremath{\langle}{x}_{i}\ensuremath{\rangle}}_{t}$ of the atomic position operators xi{x}_{i}xi​ of an open system. The latter is coupled linearly to a harmonic bath kept at a fixed temperature. The equations of motion contain a non-Markovian friction term with the classical kernel [L. Kantorovich, Phys. Rev. B 78, 094304 (2008)] and a zero mean non-Gaussian random force with correlation functions that depend on the initial preparation of the open system. We used a density operator formalism without assuming that initially the combined system was decoupled. The only approximation made in deriving quantum GLE consists of assuming that the Hamiltonian of the open system at time ttt can be expanded up to the second order with respect to operators of atomic displacements ${u}_{i}={x}_{i}\ensuremath{-}{\ensuremath{\langle}{x}_{i}\ensuremath{\rangle}}_{t}$ in the open system around their exact atomic positions ${\ensuremath{\langle}{x}_{i}\ensuremath{\rangle}}_{t}$ (the ``harmonization'' approximation). The noise is introduced to ensure that sampling many quantum GLE trajectories yields exactly the average one. An explicit expression for the pair correlation function of the noise, consistent with the classical limit, is also proposed. Unlike the usually considered quantum operator GLE, the proposed ccc-number quantum GLE can be used in direct molecular dynamic simulations of open systems under general equilibrium or nonequilibrium conditions.
A wide variety of dissipative and fluctuation problems involving a quantum system in a heat bath can be described by the independent-oscillator (IO) model Hamiltonian. Using Heisenberg equations of motion, this leads to a generalized quantum Langevin equation (QLE) for the quantum system involving two quantities which encapsulate the properties of the heat bath. Applications include: atomic energy shifts in a blackbody radiation heat bath; solution of the problem of runaway solutions in QED; electrical circuits (resistively shunted Josephson barrier, microscopic tunnel junction, etc.); conductivity calculations (since the QLE gives a natural separation between dissipative and fluctuation forces); dissipative quantum tunneling; noise effects in gravitational wave detectors; anomalous diffusion; strongly driven quantum systems; decoherence phenomena; analysis of Unruh radiation and entropy for a dissipative system.
Abstract This review provides a brief and quick introduction to the quantum Langevin equation for an oscillator, while focusing on the steady-state thermodynamic aspects. A derivation of the quantum Langevin equation is carefully outlined based on the microscopic model of the heat bath as a collection of a large number of independent quantum oscillators, the so-called independent-oscillator model. This is followed by a discussion on the relevant ‘weak-coupling’ limit. In the steady state, we analyze the quantum counterpart of energy equipartition theorem which has generated a considerable amount of interest in recent literature. The free energy, entropy, specific heat, and third law of thermodynamics are discussed for one-dimensional quantum Brownian motion in a harmonic well. Following this, we explore some aspects of dissipative diamagnetism in the context of quantum Brownian oscillators, emphasizing upon the role of confining potentials and also upon the environment-induced classical-quantum crossover. We discuss situations where the system-bath coupling is via the momentum variables by focusing on a gauge-invariant model of momentum-momentum coupling in the presence of a vector potential; for this problem, we derive the quantum Langevin equation and discuss quantum thermodynamic functions. Finally, the topic of fluctuation theorems is discussed (albeit, briefly) in the context of classical and quantum cyclotron motion of a particle coupled to a heat bath.