We regard a current flow through an open one-dimensional quantum system which is determined by a dissipative Schrödinger operator. The imaginary part of the corresponding form originates from Robin boundary conditions with certain complex valued coefficients imposed on Schrödinger’s equation. This dissipative Schrödinger operator can be regarded as a pseudo-Hamiltonian of the corresponding open quantum system. The dilation of the dissipative operator provides a (self-adjoint) quasi-Hamiltonian of the system, more precisely, the Hamiltonian of the minimal closed system which contains the open one is used to define physical quantities such as density and current for the open quantum system. The carrier density turns out to be an expression in the generalized eigenstates of the dilation while the current density is related to the characteristic function of the dissipative operator. Finally a rigorous setup of a dissipative Schrödinger–Poisson system is outlined.
We regard a current flow through an open one-dimensional quantum system which is determined by a dissipative Schrödinger operator. The imaginary part of the corresponding form originates from Robin boundary conditions with certain complex valued coefficients imposed on Schrödinger’s equation. This dissipative Schrödinger operator can be regarded as a pseudo-Hamiltonian of the corresponding open quantum system. The dilation of the dissipative operator provides a (self-adjoint) quasi-Hamiltonian of the system, more precisely, the Hamiltonian of the minimal closed system which contains the open one is used to define physical quantities such as density and current for the open quantum system. The carrier density turns out to be an expression in the generalized eigenstates of the dilation while the current density is related to the characteristic function of the dissipative operator. Finally a rigorous setup of a dissipative Schrödinger–Poisson system is outlined.
A net current flow through an open 1-dimensional Schrödinger-Poisson system is modeled by replacing self-adjoint boundary conditions by dissipative ones. To give a rigorous definition of carrier and current densities the well-known dilation theory of dissipative operators is used where the self-adjoint dilation is regarded as the Hamiltonian of a larger closed system which contains the open one. The carrier density turns out to be performed by the generalized eigenstates of the dilation while the current density is related to the characteristic function of the dissipative operator. A rigorous setup of a dissipative Schrödinger-Poisson system is outlined.
Non-self-adjoint operators play an important role in the modeling of open quantum systems. We consider a one-dimensional Schrödinger-type operator of the form −(1/2)(d/dx)(1/m)(d/dx)+V−∑κjδ(⋅−xj), Im(κj)>0, with dissipative boundary conditions. An explicit description of the characteristic function, the minimal dilation and the generalized eigenfunctions of the dilation is given. The quantities of carrier and current densities are rigorously defined. Furthermore, we will show that the current is not constant and that the variation of the current depend essentially on the chosen density matrix and the imaginary parts of the delta potentials, i.e., Im(κj). This correspondence can be used to model a recombination-generation rate in the open quantum system.
Quantum systems which interact with their environment are often modeled by maximal dissipative operators or so-called Pseudo-Hamiltonians. In this paper the scattering theory for such open systems is considered. First it is assumed that a single maximal dissipative operator AD in a Hilbert space $\sH$ is used to describe an open quantum system. In this case the minimal self-adjoint dilation K of AD can be regarded as the Hamiltonian of a closed system which contains the open system $\{A_D,\sH\}$, but since K is necessarily not semibounded from below, this model is difficult to interpret from a physical point of view. In the second part of the paper an open quantum system is modeled with a family {A(μ)} of maximal dissipative operators depending on energy μ, and it is shown that the open system can be embedded into a closed system where the Hamiltonian is semibounded. Surprisingly it turns out that the corresponding scattering matrix can be completely recovered from scattering matrices of single Pseudo-Hamiltonians as in the first part of the paper. The general results are applied to a class of Sturm-Liouville operators arising in dissipative and quantum transmitting Schrödinger-Poisson systems.
Time-dependent [current]-density functional theory for open quantum systems (OQS) has emerged as a formalism that can incorporate dissipative effects in the dynamics of many-body quantum systems. Here, we review and clarify some formal aspects of these theories that have been recently questioned in the literature. In particular, we provide theoretical support for the following conclusions: (1) contrary to what we and others had stated before, within the master equation framework, there is in fact a one-to-one mapping between vector potentials and current densities for fixed initial state, particle-particle interaction, and memory kernel; (2) regardless of the first conclusion, all of our recently suggested Kohn-Sham (KS) schemes to reproduce the current and particle densities of the original OQS, and in particular, the use of a KS closed driven system, remains formally valid; (3) the Lindblad master equation maintains the positivity of the density matrix regardless of the time-dependence of the Hamiltonian or the dissipation operators; (4) within the stochastic Schrödinger equation picture, a one-to-one mapping from stochastic vector potential to stochastic current density for individual trajectories has not been proven so far, except in the case where the vector potential is the same for every member of the ensemble, in which case, it reduces to the Lindblad master equation picture; (5) master equations may violate certain desired properties of the density matrix, such as positivity, but they remain as one of the most useful constructs to study OQS when the environment is not easily incorporated explicitly in the calculation. The conclusions support our previous work as formally rigorous, offer new insights into it, and provide a common ground to discuss related theories.
We define three general conditions that the relaxation operator in the von Neumann equation for the density matrix of an open quantum system should satisfy. The first one provides the correct relation between the macroscopic current and polarization in a quantum medium, the second is defined by thermodynamic arguments and the third one is imposed by gauge invariance of the solution. The corrected phenomenological relaxation operator is proposed for any quantum system with a discrete number of basis functions, as well as for a quantum system described by the density matrix in coordinate representation. The dissipative three-dimensional oscillator in an arbitrary oriented magnetic field is considered in detail. We have shown that the minimally modified relaxation operator in comparison with the standard relaxation operator, corresponding to tau-approximation, eventually leads to simpler and noncontradictory equations for the dynamics of averaged values of physical quantities.
For systems which obey quantum mechanics, the formulation of the problem of treating large numbers of particles is, of course, somewhat different than it is for classical systems. The microscopic description of the system is provided by a wave function which (in the absence of spin) is a function of the classical coordinates { q i }. The mathematical model is provided by a Hamiltonian operator H which is often obtained from the corresponding classical Hamiltonian by the replacement p i → ( ħ /i)(∂/∂ q i ). In other cases the form of the Hamiltonian operator is simply postulated. The microscopic dynamics are provided by the Schrödinger equation i ħ (∂Ψ/∂ t ) = H Ψ which requires as initial condition the knowledge of the wave function Ψ({ q i }, t ) at some initial time t 0 . (Boundary conditions on Ψ({ q i }, t ) must be specified as part of the description of the model as well.) The results of experiments in quantum mechanics are characterized by operators, usually obtained, like the Hamiltonian, from their classical forms and termed observables. Operators associated with observables must be Hermitian. In general, the various operators corresponding to observables do not commute with one another. It is possible to find sets of commuting operators whose mutual eigenstates span the Hilbert space in which the wave function is confined by the Schrödinger equation and the boundary conditions. A set of such (time independent) eigenstates, termed ψ ν ( q ), is a basis for the Hilbert space.