Moment hierarchies and cumulants in quantum optics

Nonlinear problems in quantum optics can be described by an infinite hierarchy of ordinary differential equations for the moments. We discuss different truncation schemes involving cumulants. For illustration the method is applied to second-harmonic generation. We prove that all but second-order cumulants are equal for any quasiprobability distribution ${\mathit{P}}_{\mathit{s}}$ , especially for the P, Q, and W functions.Nonlinear problems in quantum optics can be described by an infinite hierarchy of ordinary differential equations for the moments. We discuss different truncation schemes involving cumulants. For illustration the method is applied to second-harmonic generation. We prove that all but second-order cumulants are equal for any quasiprobability distribution ${\mathit{P}}_{\mathit{s}}$, especially for the P, Q, and W functions.

Physical Review AApr 1, 199042 citations

Order and chaos in quantum optics

F. T. Arecchi

Jan 1, 19862 citations

Quantum Dissipation in the Hydrodynamic Moment Hierarchy: A Semiclassical Truncation Strategy

Jeremy B. Maddox, Eric R. Bittner

In this paper we formulate the hydrodynamic moment and cumulant expansions of the density matrix for a quantum system in which the time evolution is described by an infinite hierarchy of coupled hydrodynamic moment equations. For the case where the system interacts with a complex environment, we develop a semiclassical closure that truncates the hierarchy. Our numerical approach for solving the truncated system of equations is intimately related to the de Broglie−Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics, in that the time evolution of each cumulant is constructed over a discrete ensemble of hydrodynamic paths. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this scheme and apply the method to a model problem for a particle escaping from a metastable potential well while in contact with a thermal bath.In this paper we formulate the hydrodynamic moment and cumulant expansions of the density matrix for a quantum system in which the time evolution is described by an infinite hierarchy of coupled hydrodynamic moment equations. For the case where the system interacts with a complex environment, we develop a semiclassical closure that truncates the hierarchy. Our numerical approach for solving the truncated system of equations is intimately related to the de Broglie−Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics, in that the time evolution of each cumulant is constructed over a discrete ensemble of hydrodynamic paths. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this scheme and apply the method to a model problem for a particle escaping from a metastable potential well while in contact with a thermal bath.

The Journal of Physical Chemistry BJul 3, 200220 citations

Microscopically informed self-consistent multi-resolvent closure for dense many-body spectra

Zhiqiang Huang

The exact multi-resolvent hierarchy of dense many-body spectra encodes higher-order spectral-weight correlations, but closing it predictively for interacting Hamiltonians remains a challenge. We introduce the multi-resolvent self-consistency (MRSC) equations, which separate an exact algebraic hierarchy from an approximate finite-parameter closure. The exact Feshbach geometric identity organizes r-resolvent cumulants into a ladder over irreducible vertices Gamma^(r), and the projected hierarchy expresses those vertices as functionals of the cumulants. The closure works in finite parameters: a connectivity basis organizes a general Hamiltonian's seed into class amplitudes, and a causal r-fold Stieltjes representation with a moment-field identity reduce moment matching to a finite-dimensional problem closed at a predictive fixed point. On the free-fermion benchmark the tested exact identities are reproduced and the Faddeeva closure is recovered at r=1. In a blind test on the interacting Ising chain, with the exact two-resolvent data withheld, the Hamiltonian-derived closure predicts the tested probes to 0.35%-0.97%. At the observable level the exact two-resolvent sector supplies a sign-correct, energy-resolved correction to the single-resolvent baseline for the off-diagonal eigenstate-thermalization-hypothesis (ETH) variance, of order one relative to it. Closure errors organize hierarchically: a level-by-level deficit decomposition, anchor measurements of the isolatable terms, and an explicit propagation bound. The same moments further yield a diagnostic chain for the window conditions of local rotational invariance -- an exact drift-kernel identity, a proven single-state identifiability boundary, and a transferability census over couplings and realizations -- a finite-order framework, not a proof of universal emergence.The exact multi-resolvent hierarchy of dense many-body spectra encodes higher-order spectral-weight correlations, but closing it predictively for interacting Hamiltonians remains a challenge. We introduce the multi-resolvent self-consistency (MRSC) equations, which separate an exact algebraic hierarchy from an approximate finite-parameter closure. The exact Feshbach geometric identity organizes r-resolvent cumulants into a ladder over irreducible vertices Gamma^(r), and the projected hierarchy expresses those vertices as functionals of the cumulants. The closure works in finite parameters: a connectivity basis organizes a general Hamiltonian's seed into class amplitudes, and a causal r-fold Stieltjes representation with a moment-field identity reduce moment matching to a finite-dimensional problem closed at a predictive fixed point. On the free-fermion benchmark the tested exact identities are reproduced and the Faddeeva closure is recovered at r=1. In a blind test on the interacting Ising chain, with the exact two-resolvent data withheld, the Hamiltonian-derived closure predicts the tested probes to 0.35%-0.97%. At the observable level the exact two-resolvent sector supplies a sign-correct, energy-resolved correction to the single-resolvent baseline for the off-diagonal eigenstate-thermalization-hypothesis (ETH) variance, of order one relative to it. Closure errors organize hierarchically: a level-by-level deficit decomposition, anchor measurements of the isolatable terms, and an explicit propagation bound. The same moments further yield a diagnostic chain for the window conditions of local rotational invariance -- an exact drift-kernel identity, a proven single-state identifiability boundary, and a transferability census over couplings and realizations -- a finite-order framework, not a proof of universal emergence.

quant-pharXiv:2610.28031Oct 21, 20260 citations

{\mathit{P}}_{\mathit{s}}

, especially for the P, Q, and W functions.