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The Journal of Chemical Physics

A multilayer multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree simulation of the reaction-coordinate spin-boson model employing an interaction picture

Haobin Wang, Michael Thoss

Published Mar 24, 2017• 20 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The multilayer multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree method is applied in an interaction picture to simulate dynamics of the spin-boson model in the reaction-coordinate representation. The use of the interaction picture allows a more effective description of correlation effects, especially when the coupling strength between the reaction coordinate and the bath is very strong. Examples show that in most physical regimes the efficiency is improved significantly, in some cases up to several orders of magnitude. This opens up new avenues for studying quantum dynamical problems.

DOI
10.1063/1.4978901

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The multilayer multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree method is applied in an interaction picture to simulate dynamics of the spin-boson model in the reaction-coordinate representation. The use of the interaction picture allows a more effective description of correlation effects, especially when the coupling strength between the reaction coordinate and the bath is very strong. Examples show that in most physical regimes the efficiency is improved significantly, in some cases up to several orders of magnitude. This opens up new avenues for studying quantum dynamical problems.
The multilayer improved relaxation is applied to study the delocalization-localization transition in the spin-boson model at zero temperature-a well-known example of quantum phase transition. Calculations of energy eigenstates are obtained by iteratively diagonalizing the matrix of the Boltzmann operator in the top layer representation, using a Lanczos/Arnoldi method while relaxing the single particle functions of all layers using the multilayer multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree imaginary time propagation. Two properties are used to examine the quantum phase transition: the energy splitting for the lowest pair of eigenstates and the magnetic susceptibility. Consistent findings are obtained with appropriate scaling parameters.
An efficient and accurate method for computing the equilibrium reduced density matrix is presented for treating open quantum systems characterized by the system-bath model. The method employs the multilayer multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree theory for imaginary time propagation and an importance sampling procedure for calculating the quantum mechanical trace. The method is applied to the spin-boson Hamiltonian, which leads to accurate results in agreement with those produced by the multi-electronic-state path integral molecular dynamics method.
The dynamics of the spin-boson model at zero temperature is investigated using the multilayer multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree (ML-MCTDH) method.This method allows a numerically exact description of the dynamics of the spin-boson model in a broad range of coupling strengths.The results show the transition of the dynamics from weakly damped coherent motion to incoherent decay and finally to localization upon increase of the system-bath coupling strength.A detailed analysis of the incoherent decay for stronger coupling reveals that multiple timescales are involved in the dynamics.Furthermore, the applicability of the scaling limit for large characteristic frequencies of the bath as well as the validity of the non-interacting blip approximation are studied in some detail.
The improved relaxation approach of Meyer and co-workers is extended by employing the multilayer multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree (ML-MCTDH) theory. Within this approach the trial wave function is expressed by a recursive, multilayered expansion that is the same as in a normal ML-MCTDH simulation. Calculation of an energy eigenstate then proceeds by iteratively diagonalizing the Boltzmann operator in the top layer representation using a Lanczos/Arnoldi method while relaxing the single particle functions of all layers using the ML-MCTDH imaginary time propagation. Numerical iteration is stopped until the relative energy and/or density of the target state meet the convergence criteria. The application of this multilayer improved relaxation method is illustrated by computing the energy splitting for the lowest pair of eigenstates as well as the spin observables and entanglement entropy of the spin-boson model. A large number of degrees of freedom, up to 10,000 bath modes, can be treated, and thus the appropriate phase transition at a critical system-bath coupling strength may be predicted via appropriate extrapolations.
A new theory is proposed to accurately simulate quantum dynamics in systems of identical particles. It is based on the second quantization formalism of many-body quantum theory, in which the Fock space is represented by occupation-number states. Within this representation the overall Fock space can be formally decomposed into smaller subspaces, and the wave function can be expressed as a multilayer multiconfiguration Hartree expansion involving subvectors in these subspaces. The theory unifies the multilayer multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree theory for both distinguishable and indistinguishable particles. Specific formulations are given for systems of identical fermions, bosons, and combinations thereof. Practical implementations are discussed, especially for the case of fermions, to include the operator algebra that enforces the symmetry of identical particles. The theory is illustrated by a numerical example on vibrationally coupled electron transport.
A fundamental longstanding problem in studying spin models is the efficient and accurate numerical simulation of the long-time behavior of larger systems. The exponential growth of the Hilbert space and the entanglement accumulation at long times pose major challenges for current methods. To address these issues, we employ the multilayer multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree (ML-MCTDH) framework to simulate the many-body spin dynamics of the Heisenberg model in various settings, including the Ising and XYZ limits with different interaction ranges and random couplings. Benchmarks with analytical and exact numerical approaches show that ML-MCTDH accurately captures the time evolution of one- and two-body observables in both one- and two-dimensional lattices. A comparison with the discrete truncated Wigner approximation (DTWA) highlights that ML-MCTDH is particularly well-suited for handling anisotropic models and provides more reliable results for two-point observables across all tested cases. The behavior of the corresponding entanglement dynamics is analyzed to reveal the complexity of the quantum states. Our findings indicate that the rate of entanglement growth strongly depends on the interaction range and the presence of disorder. This particular relationship is then used to examine the convergence behavior of ML-MCTDH. Our results indicate that the multilayer structure of ML-MCTDH is a promising numerical framework for handling the dynamics of generic many-body spin systems.