A BBGKY-like hierarchy is derived from the non-equilibrium Redfield equation. Two further approximations are introduced and each can be used to truncate and solve the hierarchy. In the first approximation such a truncation is performed by replacing two-particle Green's functions (GFs) in the hierarchy by their values at equilibrium. The second method is developed based on the cluster expansion, which constructs two-particle GFs from one-particle GFs and neglects the correlation part. A non-equilibrium Wick's Theorem is proved to provide a basis for this non-equilibrium cluster expansion. Using those two approximations, our method of solving the Redfield equation, for instance, of an N-site chain of interacting spinless fermions, involves an eigenvalue problem with dimension
2N and a linear system with dimension
N2 in the first case, and a nonlinear equation with dimension
N2 in the second case, which can be solved iteratively via a sequence of
N2 linear systems. Other currently available direct methods correspond to a linear system or an eigenvalue system with dimension
4N plus an eigenvalue system with dimension
2N. As a test of the methods, for small systems with size N=4, results are found to be consistent with results made available by other direct methods. Although not discussed here, extending both methods to their next levels is straightforward. This indicates a promising potential for this BBGKY-like approach of non-equilibrium kinetic equations.
Non-equilibrium Green’s Function (NGF) method is a powerful tool for studying the evolution of quantum many-body systems. Different types of correlations can be systematically incorporated within the formalism. The time evolution of the single-particle Green’s functions is described in terms of the Kadanoff-Baym equations. The current work initially focuses on introducing the correlations within infinite nuclear matter in one dimension and then in a finite system in the NGF approach. Starting from the harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian, by switching on adiabatically the mean-field and correlations simultaneously, a correlated state with ground-state characteristics is arrived at within the NGF method. Furthermore the use of cooling to for improving the adiabatic switching is explored.
In order to optimize opto-electronic applications of semiconductor nanostructures, a deep understanding of optical nonlinearities is essential.One fundamental method currently used within this field of research is ultrafast optical spectroscopy.This work presents a theoretical study of optical nonlinearities in semiconductor quantum wells in the coherent time regime.The theory is based on the equations of motion for the coherent exciton and biexciton transition amplitudes.These equations are derived using two different ways: Heisenberg equations of motion in combination with the dynamics-controlled truncation theory and alternatively the non-equilibrium Green´s function technique. For the coherent regime both approaches are equivalent and can be used to formulate a coupled set of equations for the coherent excitation dynamics that is correct up to the third order in the optical field.In contrast to the dynamics-controlled truncation theory the non-equilibrium Green´s function technique allows the inclusion of incoherent scattering processes into the description.The theory is evaluated to describe pump and probe as well as four-wave-mixing experiments with ZnSe quantum wells.Numerical calculations for the coherent control of the macroscopic polarization andthe dependence of transient four-wave-mixing on the light-polarization and intensity are both in good agreement with experiments.In order to correctly describe elevated excitation conditions for the latter investigation, the theory is self-consistently extended such that the included excitonic and biexcitonic nonlinearities contribute up to arbitrary order in the optical field.