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Physical Review A

Linear response theory for open systems: Quantum master equation approach

Masashi Ban, Sachiko Kitajima, Toshihico Arimitsu, Fumiaki Shibata

Published Feb 27, 2017• 22 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A linear response theory for open quantum systems is formulated by means of the time-local and time-nonlocal quantum master equations, where a relevant quantum system interacts with a thermal reservoir as well as with an external classical field. A linear response function that characterizes how a relaxation process deviates from its intrinsic process by a weak external field is obtained by extracting the linear terms with respect to the external field from the quantum master equation. It consists of four parts. One represents the linear response of a quantum system when system-reservoir correlation at an initial time and correlation between reservoir states at different times are neglected. The others are correction terms due to these effects. The linear response function is compared with the Kubo formula in the usual linear response theory. To investigate the properties of the linear response of an open quantum system, an exactly solvable model for a stochastic dephasing of a two-level system is examined. Furthermore, the method for deriving the linear response function is applied for calculating two-time correlation functions of open quantum systems. It is shown that the quantum regression theorem is not valid for open quantum systems unless their reduced time evolution is Markovian.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.95.022126

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A linear response theory for open quantum systems is formulated by means of the time-local and time-nonlocal quantum master equations, where a relevant quantum system interacts with a thermal reservoir as well as with an external classical field. A linear response function that characterizes how a relaxation process deviates from its intrinsic process by a weak external field is obtained by extracting the linear terms with respect to the external field from the quantum master equation. It consists of four parts. One represents the linear response of a quantum system when system-reservoir correlation at an initial time and correlation between reservoir states at different times are neglected. The others are correction terms due to these effects. The linear response function is compared with the Kubo formula in the usual linear response theory. To investigate the properties of the linear response of an open quantum system, an exactly solvable model for a stochastic dephasing of a two-level system is examined. Furthermore, the method for deriving the linear response function is applied for calculating two-time correlation functions of open quantum systems. It is shown that the quantum regression theorem is not valid for open quantum systems unless their reduced time evolution is Markovian.
A double-time correlation function of arbitrary two quantum operations is studied for a nonstationary open quantum system which is in contact with a thermal reservoir. It includes a usual correlation function, a linear response function, and a weak value of an observable. Time evolution of the correlation function can be derived by means of the time-convolution and time-convolutionless projection operator techniques. For this purpose, a quasidensity operator accompanied by a fictitious field is introduced, which makes it possible to derive explicit formulas for calculating a double-time correlation function in the second-order approximation with respect to a system-reservoir interaction. The derived formula explicitly shows that the quantum regression theorem for calculating the double-time correlation function cannot be used if a thermal reservoir has a finite correlation time. Furthermore, the formula is applied for a pure dephasing process and a linear dissipative process. The quantum regression theorem and the the Leggett-Garg inequality are investigated for an open two-level system. The results are compared with those obtained by exact calculation to examine whether the formula is a good approximation.
Linear response functions are a cornerstone concept in physics as they enable efficient estimation of many dynamical properties. In addition to predicting dynamics of observables under perturbations without resimulating the system, these response functions lead to electric conductivity, magnetic susceptibility, dielectric constants, etc. Estimating two-time correlation functions is a key ingredient of measuring linear response functions. However, for open quantum systems, simulating the reduced density operator with a quantum master equation only yields \emph{one-point} observables and is insufficient for this task. In this paper, we develop a memoryless, system-only formulation of two-point correlations for open quantum systems that extends the standard quantum regression theorem (QRT) beyond the Markov limit. We further incorporate the spectral property of the bath and express the time propagators in the response function as the memoryless generators in Lindblad-type forms. The resulting expressions recast the total response function into evolutions generated by time-dependent Hamiltonian and Lindblad primitives together with the more challenging propagation of commutators and anti-commutators. In addition to the derivation of the new QRT, we present quantum algorithms for these primitives and obtain an estimator for two-time correlations whose cost scales poly-logarithmically in the system dimension and 1/ε1.251/ε^{1.25}1/ε1.25 in the target accuracy εεε. The framework removes the separability (Born-Markov) assumption and offers a pathway to efficient computation of nonequilibrium properties from open quantum systems.
The overview of the principles of quantum statistical mechanics are given, emphasizing the fundamental differences with respect to classical statistical mechanics, as well as the analogies prevailing for the formulation of the properties. A functional time-reversal symmetry relation is presented, allowing the deduction of response theory. The Kubo formula is obtained for the linear response properties and the fluctuation–dissipation theorem is established. For weakly coupled systems, the quantum master equation and the corresponding stochastic Schrödinger equation are deduced. The slippage of initial conditions is discussed in relation to the positivity of the reduced statistical operator. The results are illustrated with the spin-boson model.
An exact formula of a two-time correlation function is derived for an open quantum system which interacts with a Gaussian thermal reservoir. It is provided in terms of functional derivative with respect to fictitious fields. A perturbative expansion and its diagrammatic representation are developed, where the small expansion parameter is related to a correlation time of the Gaussian thermal reservoir. The two-time correlation function of the lowest order is equivalent to that calculated by means of the quantum regression theorem. The result clearly shows that the violation of the quantum regression theorem is caused by a finiteness of the reservoir correlation time. By making use of an exactly solvable model consisting of a two-level system and a set of harmonic oscillators, it is shown that the two-time correlation function up to the first order is a good approximation to the exact one.
Beyond the conventional quantum regression theorem, a general formula for non-Markovian correlation functions of arbitrary system operators both in the time- and frequency-domain is given. We approach the problem by transforming the conventional time-non-local master equation into dispersed time-local equations-of-motion. The validity of our approximations is discussed and we find that the non-Markovian terms have to be included for short times. While calculations of the density matrix at short times suffer from the initial value problem, a correlation function has a well defined initial state. The resulting formula for the non-Markovian correlation function has a simple structure and is as convenient in its application as the conventional quantum regression theorem for the Markovian case. For illustrations, we apply our method to investigate the spectrum of the current fluctuations of interacting quantum dots contacted with two electrodes. The corresponding non-Markovian characteristics are demonstrated.