Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

IBM Journal of Research and Development

On the Theory of Relaxation Processes

Alfred G. Redfield

Published Jan 1, 1957• 1,803 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A general procedure is given for finding the equation of motion of the density matrix of a system in contact with a thermal bath, as for example a nuclear spin system weakly coupled to a crystal lattice. The thermal bath is treated both classically and quantum mechanically, and the theory is similar to, and a generalization of, conventional theories of time proportional transition probabilities. Relaxation of the system by the thermal bath is expressed by a linear matrix operator, and it is stressed that elements of this operator can be regarded as secular or nonsecular perturbations on the equation of motion and can be treated accordingly. When the motion of the system is slow compared to that of the thermal bath, the equation of motion can be expressed in an operator form which is independent of representation. If the system has a time-dependent Hamiltonian which varies slowly compared to the motion of the thermal bath, the same equation of motion is obeyed and the system is relaxed by the bath toward a Boltzmann distribution with respect to its instantaneous Hamiltonian. If the time variation of the Hamiltonian is more rapid, higher order corrections to the equation of motion must be applied. The theory is applied to spin-lattice relaxation of a coupled nuclear spin system in a metal, for arbitrary externally applied fixed magnetic field.

DOI
10.1147/rd.11.0019

Related papers

Theory of scalar relaxation of the second kind. II

Nicholas C. Pyper

A previously presented [1] equation of motion of a reduced density matrix for a system of spins coupled to a second system of spins, the latter being strongly relaxed on account of their coupling to a thermal reservoir, is rederived without recourse to coarse-grained methods. It is shown that the procedure developed here, in contrast to the earlier approach [1], can be extended to corrections of fourth and higher orders in the strength of the coupling between the two groups of spins. The fourth-order terms are presented and applied to the 2A2B3X spin system, the expression derived being compared, for the first-order limit, with the result of an exact calculation. It is shown that the approach [1] becomes invalid in cases for which there is more than one eigenoperator of the Liouville operator appropriate to the rapidly relaxing spins whose eigenvalues are zero or very small. This is shown to occur when the rapidly relaxing group of spins possesses nuclear permutation symmetry and the relaxation of different spins in this group is strongly correlated. An equation of motion of the density matrix is derived for such cases and applied to the 2A3X3Y spin system.

Molecular Physics•Jan 1, 1971•17 citations

A general treatment of relaxation phenomena

S. H. Lin, Henry B. Eyring

The singular perturbation method has been applied to solve the quantum mechanical Liouville equation for the relaxation phenomenon of the system in thermal contact with a heat bath. The master equation derived gives the proper expressions for both diagonal and off-diagonal elements of the density matrix and is capable of describing the time-dependent behavior of the system in the time range comparable with the reciprocal of the damping constants and the time range t --> infinity compared with the reciprocal of the damping constants.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences•Sep 1, 1977•43 citations

GENERALIZED KINETIC AND EVOLUTION EQUATIONS IN THE APPROACH OF THE NONEQUILIBRIUM STATISTICAL OPERATOR

A. L. Kuzemsky

The method of the nonequilibrium statistical operator developed by D. N. Zubarev is employed to analyze and derive generalized transport and kinetic equations. The degrees of freedom in solids can often be represented as a few interacting subsystems (electrons, spins, phonons, nuclear spins, etc.). Perturbation of one subsystem may produce a nonequilibrium state which is then relaxed to an equilibrium state due to the interaction between particles or with a thermal bath. The generalized kinetic equations were derived for a system weakly coupled to a thermal bath to elucidate the nature of transport and relaxation processes. It was shown that the "collision term" had the same functional form as for the generalized kinetic equations for the system with small interactions among particles. The applicability of the general formalism to physically relevant situations is investigated. It is shown that some known generalized kinetic equations (e.g. kinetic equation for magnons, Peierls equation for phonons) naturally emerges within the NSO formalism. The relaxation of a small dynamic subsystem in contact with a thermal bath is considered on the basis of the derived equations. The Schrödinger-type equation for the average amplitude describing the energy shift and damping of a particle in a thermal bath and the coupled kinetic equation describing the dynamic and statistical aspects of the motion are derived and analyzed. The equations derived can help in the understanding of the origin of irreversible behavior in quantum phenomena.

•Jan 1, 2005•32 citations

GENERALIZED KINETIC AND EVOLUTION EQUATIONS IN THE APPROACH OF THE NONEQUILIBRIUM STATISTICAL OPERATOR

A. L. KUZEMSKY

The method of the nonequilibrium statistical operator developed by D. N. Zubarev is employed to analyze and derive generalized transport and kinetic equations. The degrees of freedom in solids can often be represented as a few interacting subsystems (electrons, spins, phonons, nuclear spins, etc.). Perturbation of one subsystem may produce a nonequilibrium state which is then relaxed to an equilibrium state due to the interaction between particles or with a thermal bath. The generalized kinetic equations were derived for a system weakly coupled to a thermal bath to elucidate the nature of transport and relaxation processes. It was shown that the "collision term" had the same functional form as for the generalized kinetic equations for the system with small interactions among particles. The applicability of the general formalism to physically relevant situations is investigated. It is shown that some known generalized kinetic equations (e.g. kinetic equation for magnons, Peierls equation for phonons) naturally emerges within the NSO formalism. The relaxation of a small dynamic subsystem in contact with a thermal bath is considered on the basis of the derived equations. The Schrödinger-type equation for the average amplitude describing the energy shift and damping of a particle in a thermal bath and the coupled kinetic equation describing the dynamic and statistical aspects of the motion are derived and analyzed. The equations derived can help in the understanding of the origin of irreversible behavior in quantum phenomena.

arXiv:cond-mat/0502194•International Journal of Modern Physics B•Mar 10, 2005•39 citations

Relaxation of quantum systems weakly coupled to a bath. I. Total-time-ordering-cumulant and partial-time-ordering-cumulant non-Markovian theories

J. Bretón, Arturo Hardisson, F. Mauricio +1 more

The present paper studies the formal aspects of the total-time-ordering-cumulant (TTOC) and the partial-time-ordering-cumulant (PTOC) relaxations of a quantum system, of few degrees of freedom, in weak interaction with a bath, both within and outside the Markovian limit. To this end, the general expressions connecting the matrix elements of the TTOC and PTOC relaxation superoperators with the bath correlation functions are determined. Special attention is paid to two particular cases: a system with a nonequidistant energy spectrum and a system with an equidistant energy spectrum. Discussions revolve mainly around the possibility of applying the secular approximation to the TTOC and PTOC master equations for the off-diagonal matrix elements of the reduced-density operator of the system.

Physical Review A•Jul 1, 1984•38 citations

Quantum relaxation with initial system-bath correlations

Klaus Kassner

A new type of projection operator is used to derive homogeneous equations of motion for the reduced density operator of a system coupled to a bath. Crucial simplifications of these equations are obtained without assuming that the projection operator and the zeroth-order Hamiltonian commute. No factorization assumption for the initial density matrix is made. The applicability of the general formalism, which is valid also for nonergodic initial conditions, to physically relevant situations is investigated. It turns out to be particularly useful for the treatment of a system initially submitted to some constraints but otherwise in equilibrium. The relaxation towards the unconstrained equilibrium of a two-level system in contact with an Ohmic bath is treated as an example. The reduced equilibrium density operator of this system is obtained analytically for the case of extremely low temperatures. The result shows and it is then proved rigorously that the zero-temperature reduced density operator does not describe a pure state in general, except in the zero-coupling limit.

Physical Review A•Dec 1, 1987•20 citations
A general procedure is given for finding the equation of motion of the density matrix of a system in contact with a thermal bath, as for example a nuclear spin system weakly coupled to a crystal lattice. The thermal bath is treated both classically and quantum mechanically, and the theory is similar to, and a generalization of, conventional theories of time proportional transition probabilities. Relaxation of the system by the thermal bath is expressed by a linear matrix operator, and it is stressed that elements of this operator can be regarded as secular or nonsecular perturbations on the equation of motion and can be treated accordingly. When the motion of the system is slow compared to that of the thermal bath, the equation of motion can be expressed in an operator form which is independent of representation. If the system has a time-dependent Hamiltonian which varies slowly compared to the motion of the thermal bath, the same equation of motion is obeyed and the system is relaxed by the bath toward a Boltzmann distribution with respect to its instantaneous Hamiltonian. If the time variation of the Hamiltonian is more rapid, higher order corrections to the equation of motion must be applied. The theory is applied to spin-lattice relaxation of a coupled nuclear spin system in a metal, for arbitrary externally applied fixed magnetic field.
A previously presented [1] equation of motion of a reduced density matrix for a system of spins coupled to a second system of spins, the latter being strongly relaxed on account of their coupling to a thermal reservoir, is rederived without recourse to coarse-grained methods. It is shown that the procedure developed here, in contrast to the earlier approach [1], can be extended to corrections of fourth and higher orders in the strength of the coupling between the two groups of spins. The fourth-order terms are presented and applied to the 2A2B3X spin system, the expression derived being compared, for the first-order limit, with the result of an exact calculation. It is shown that the approach [1] becomes invalid in cases for which there is more than one eigenoperator of the Liouville operator appropriate to the rapidly relaxing spins whose eigenvalues are zero or very small. This is shown to occur when the rapidly relaxing group of spins possesses nuclear permutation symmetry and the relaxation of different spins in this group is strongly correlated. An equation of motion of the density matrix is derived for such cases and applied to the 2A3X3Y spin system.
The singular perturbation method has been applied to solve the quantum mechanical Liouville equation for the relaxation phenomenon of the system in thermal contact with a heat bath. The master equation derived gives the proper expressions for both diagonal and off-diagonal elements of the density matrix and is capable of describing the time-dependent behavior of the system in the time range comparable with the reciprocal of the damping constants and the time range t --> infinity compared with the reciprocal of the damping constants.
The method of the nonequilibrium statistical operator developed by D. N. Zubarev is employed to analyze and derive generalized transport and kinetic equations. The degrees of freedom in solids can often be represented as a few interacting subsystems (electrons, spins, phonons, nuclear spins, etc.). Perturbation of one subsystem may produce a nonequilibrium state which is then relaxed to an equilibrium state due to the interaction between particles or with a thermal bath. The generalized kinetic equations were derived for a system weakly coupled to a thermal bath to elucidate the nature of transport and relaxation processes. It was shown that the "collision term" had the same functional form as for the generalized kinetic equations for the system with small interactions among particles. The applicability of the general formalism to physically relevant situations is investigated. It is shown that some known generalized kinetic equations (e.g. kinetic equation for magnons, Peierls equation for phonons) naturally emerges within the NSO formalism. The relaxation of a small dynamic subsystem in contact with a thermal bath is considered on the basis of the derived equations. The Schrödinger-type equation for the average amplitude describing the energy shift and damping of a particle in a thermal bath and the coupled kinetic equation describing the dynamic and statistical aspects of the motion are derived and analyzed. The equations derived can help in the understanding of the origin of irreversible behavior in quantum phenomena.
The method of the nonequilibrium statistical operator developed by D. N. Zubarev is employed to analyze and derive generalized transport and kinetic equations. The degrees of freedom in solids can often be represented as a few interacting subsystems (electrons, spins, phonons, nuclear spins, etc.). Perturbation of one subsystem may produce a nonequilibrium state which is then relaxed to an equilibrium state due to the interaction between particles or with a thermal bath. The generalized kinetic equations were derived for a system weakly coupled to a thermal bath to elucidate the nature of transport and relaxation processes. It was shown that the "collision term" had the same functional form as for the generalized kinetic equations for the system with small interactions among particles. The applicability of the general formalism to physically relevant situations is investigated. It is shown that some known generalized kinetic equations (e.g. kinetic equation for magnons, Peierls equation for phonons) naturally emerges within the NSO formalism. The relaxation of a small dynamic subsystem in contact with a thermal bath is considered on the basis of the derived equations. The Schrödinger-type equation for the average amplitude describing the energy shift and damping of a particle in a thermal bath and the coupled kinetic equation describing the dynamic and statistical aspects of the motion are derived and analyzed. The equations derived can help in the understanding of the origin of irreversible behavior in quantum phenomena.
The present paper studies the formal aspects of the total-time-ordering-cumulant (TTOC) and the partial-time-ordering-cumulant (PTOC) relaxations of a quantum system, of few degrees of freedom, in weak interaction with a bath, both within and outside the Markovian limit. To this end, the general expressions connecting the matrix elements of the TTOC and PTOC relaxation superoperators with the bath correlation functions are determined. Special attention is paid to two particular cases: a system with a nonequidistant energy spectrum and a system with an equidistant energy spectrum. Discussions revolve mainly around the possibility of applying the secular approximation to the TTOC and PTOC master equations for the off-diagonal matrix elements of the reduced-density operator of the system.
A new type of projection operator is used to derive homogeneous equations of motion for the reduced density operator of a system coupled to a bath. Crucial simplifications of these equations are obtained without assuming that the projection operator and the zeroth-order Hamiltonian commute. No factorization assumption for the initial density matrix is made. The applicability of the general formalism, which is valid also for nonergodic initial conditions, to physically relevant situations is investigated. It turns out to be particularly useful for the treatment of a system initially submitted to some constraints but otherwise in equilibrium. The relaxation towards the unconstrained equilibrium of a two-level system in contact with an Ohmic bath is treated as an example. The reduced equilibrium density operator of this system is obtained analytically for the case of extremely low temperatures. The result shows and it is then proved rigorously that the zero-temperature reduced density operator does not describe a pure state in general, except in the zero-coupling limit.