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Journal of Statistical Mechanics Theory and Experiment

A semiclassical approach to explore the bistable kinetics of a Brownian particle in a nonequilibrium environment

Pradipta Ghosh, Anindita Shit, Sudip Chattopadhyay, Jyotipratim Ray Chaudhuri

Published Feb 18, 2011• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We explore the noise-induced barrier crossing dynamics of a Brownian particle in the high temperature quantum regime under large damping. We assume the associated heat bath not to be in thermal equilibrium; it is rather driven by an externally applied random force which exposes the system particles to a nonequilibrium environment. We propose a system + reservoir model to study the stochastic Langevin dynamics. We also construct the corresponding Fokker–Planck equation in the said regime and solve it to explore the bistable kinetics. We investigate the role of different parameters in shaping the nature of such a bistable kinetics in detail and hence allowing one to get some insight into the very complicated dynamics of quantum dissipative system(s). Finally, we analyze the semiclassical rate vis-a-vis the classical analog.

DOI
10.1088/1742-5468/2011/02/p02026

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When a classical Brownian particle is subjected to a temperature gradient it can undergo thermophoresis, i.e., the particle gets transported towards the colder regions of the environment, which bears relevant consequences to nonequilibrium self-organization. Here, we investigate how the quantum Brownian motion is affected by a temperature gradient. We employ a recently proposed generalized system-plus-reservoir model, where one assumes a continuum field of thermal baths. As our main result, we obtain the quantum influence functional, within the Feynmann-Vernon path integral approach. To test convergence, we derive an effective Langevin equation for the center of mass of the quantum wavepacket, and show that it coincides with the classical Langevin equation at high temperatures. Both the fully quantum (low temperatures) and the semiclassical (high temperature) limits show signatures of quantum thermophoresis in the quantum Brownian motion, a so far unexplored effect.
Chandrasekhar's phenomenological theory of brownian motion is transcribed to the quantum regime. The statistics used is that of Boltzmann but the free particle was treated, in addition, with Fermi-Dirac statistics followed by some discussion relating to the measurements of low temperatures. Difficulties arising from the dissipative processes involved are by-passed with the aid of a new methodology enabling one to obtain a propagator in configuration space, which embraces single-particle dissipative forces. This sort of propagator is in turn used for the construction of a type of a nonequilibrium density matrix for the quantum brownian particle. Exact nonequilibrium density matrices for the free and the harmonically bound brownian particles under the influence of external time dependent forces are obtained. Finally, a quantum Fokker-Planck type equation for the general brownian particle is derived. The analysis proceeds via functional integration.
We have presented a simple approach to quantum theory of Brownian motion and barrier crossing dynamics. Based on an initial coherent state representation of bath oscillators and an equilibrium canonical distribution of quantum-mechanical mean values of their co-ordinates and momenta we have derived a c number generalized quantum Langevin equation. The approach allows us to implement the method of classical non-Markovian Brownian motion to realize an exact generalized non-Markovian quantum Kramers' equation. The equation is valid for arbitrary temperature and friction. We have solved this equation in the spatial diffusion-limited regime to derive quantum Kramers' rate of barrier crossing and analyze its variation as a function of the temperature and friction. While almost all the earlier theories rest on quasiprobability distribution functions (e.g., Wigner function) and path integral methods, the present work is based on true probability distribution functions and is independent of path integral techniques. The theory is a natural extension of the classical theory to quantum domain and provides a unified description of thermally activated processes and tunneling.
With this work we elaborate on the physics of quantum noise in thermal equilibrium and in stationary nonequilibrium. Starting out from the celebrated quantum fluctuation-dissipation theorem we discuss some important consequences that must hold for open, dissipative quantum systems in thermal equilibrium. The issue of quantum dissipation is exemplified with the fundamental problem of a damped harmonic quantum oscillator. The role of quantum fluctuations is discussed in the context of both, the nonlinear generalized quantum Langevin equation and the path integral approach. We discuss the consequences of the time-reversal symmetry for an open dissipative quantum dynamics and, furthermore, point to a series of subtleties and possible pitfalls. The path integral methodology is applied to the decay of metastable states assisted by quantum Brownian noise.