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Laser Physics Letters

Invalidity of the quantitative adiabatic condition and general conditions for adiabatic approximations

Dafa Li

Published Apr 12, 2016• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract The adiabatic theorem was proposed about 90 years ago and has played an important role in quantum physics. The quantitative adiabatic condition constructed from eigenstates and eigenvalues of a Hamiltonian is a traditional tool to estimate adiabaticity and has proven to be the necessary and sufficient condition for adiabaticity. However, recently the condition has become a controversial subject. In this paper, we list some expressions to estimate the validity of the adiabatic approximation. We show that the quantitative adiabatic condition is invalid for the adiabatic approximation via the Euclidean distance between the adiabatic state and the evolution state. Furthermore, we deduce general necessary and sufficient conditions for the validity of the adiabatic approximation by different definitions.

DOI
10.1088/1612-2011/13/5/055203

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Abstract The adiabatic theorem was proposed about 90 years ago and has played an important role in quantum physics. The quantitative adiabatic condition constructed from eigenstates and eigenvalues of a Hamiltonian is a traditional tool to estimate adiabaticity and has proven to be the necessary and sufficient condition for adiabaticity. However, recently the condition has become a controversial subject. In this paper, we list some expressions to estimate the validity of the adiabatic approximation. We show that the quantitative adiabatic condition is invalid for the adiabatic approximation via the Euclidean distance between the adiabatic state and the evolution state. Furthermore, we deduce general necessary and sufficient conditions for the validity of the adiabatic approximation by different definitions.
The quantum adiabatic theorem plays an important role in quantum mechanics. However, counter-examples were produced recently, indicating that their transition probabilities do not converge as predicted by the adiabatic theorem [K. P. Marzlin et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 160408 (2004); D. M. Tong et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 110407 (2005)]. For a special class of Hamiltonians, we examine the standard criterion for adiabatic evolution experimentally and theoretically, as well as three newly suggested adiabatic conditions. We show that the standard criterion is neither sufficient nor necessary.
The quantitative adiabatic condition (QAC), or quantitative condition, is a convenient ( a priori ) tool for estimating the adiabaticity of quantum evolutions. However, the range of the applicability of QAC is not well understood. It has been shown that QAC can become insufficient for guaranteeing the validity of the adiabatic approximation, but under what conditions the QAC would become necessary has become controversial. Furthermore, it is believed that the inability for the QAC to reveal quantum adiabaticity is due to induced resonant transitions. However, it is not clear how to quantify these transitions in general. Here we present a progress to this problem by finding an exact relation that can reveal how transition amplitudes are related to QAC directly. As a posteriori condition for quantum adiabaticity, our result is universally applicable to any (nondegenerate) quantum system and gives a clear picture on how QAC could become insufficient or unnecessary for the adiabatic approximation, which is a problem that has gained considerable interest in the literature in recent years.
Abstract. The quantitative adiabatic condition (QAC), or quantitative condition, is a convenient (a priori) tool for estimating the adiabaticity of quantum evolutions. However, the range of the applicability of QAC is not well understood. It has been shown that QAC can become insufficient for guaranteeing the validity of the adiabatic approximation, but under what conditions the QAC would become necessary has become controversial. Furthermore, it is believed that the inability for the QAC to reveal quantum adiabaticity is due to induced resonant transitions. However, it is not clear how to quantify these transitions in general. Here we present a progress to this problem by finding an exact relation that can reveal how transition amplitudes are related to QAC directly. As a posteriori condition for quantum adiabaticity, our result is universally applicable to any (nondegenerate) quantum system and gives a clear picture on how QAC could become insufficient or unnecessary for the adiabatic approximation, which is a problem that has gained considerable interest in the literature in recent years. PACS numbers: 03.65.Ca, 03.65.Ta, 03.65.Vf.
The condition for adiabatic approximation are of basic importance for the applications of the adiabatic theorem. The traditional quantitative condition was found to be necessary but not sufficient, but we do not know its physical meaning and the reason why it is necessary from the physical point of view. In this work, we relate the adiabatic theorem to the uncertainty relation, and present a clear physical picture of the traditional quantitative condition. It is shown that the quantitative condition is just the amplitude of the probability of transition between two levels in the time interval which is of the order of the time uncertainty of the system. We also present a new sufficient condition with clear physical picture.