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Physical Review A

Higher-order stochastic differential equations and the positive Wigner function

P. D. Drummond

Published Dec 4, 2017• 7 citations

Abstract

General higher-order stochastic processes that correspond to any diffusion-type tensor of higher than second order are obtained. The relationship of multivariate higher-order stochastic differential equations with tensor decomposition theory and tensor rank is explained. Techniques for generating the requisite complex higher-order noise are proved to exist either using polar coordinates and $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ distributions, or from products of Gaussian variates. This method is shown to allow the calculation of the dynamics of the Wigner function, after it is extended to a complex phase space. The results are illustrated physically through dynamical calculations of the positive Wigner distribution for three-mode parametric downconversion, widely used in quantum optics. The approach eliminates paradoxes arising from truncation of the higher derivative terms in Wigner function time evolution. Anomalous results of negative populations and vacuum scattering found in truncated Wigner quantum simulations in quantum optics and Bose-Einstein condensate dynamics are shown not to occur with this type of stochastic theory.

DOI: 10.1103/physreva.96.062104

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General higher-order stochastic processes that correspond to any diffusion-type tensor of higher than second order are obtained. The relationship of multivariate higher-order stochastic differential equations with tensor decomposition theory and tensor rank is explained. Techniques for generating the requisite complex higher-order noise are proved to exist either using polar coordinates and

\ensuremath{\gamma}

distributions, or from products of Gaussian variates. This method is shown to allow the calculation of the dynamics of the Wigner function, after it is extended to a complex phase space. The results are illustrated physically through dynamical calculations of the positive Wigner distribution for three-mode parametric downconversion, widely used in quantum optics. The approach eliminates paradoxes arising from truncation of the higher derivative terms in Wigner function time evolution. Anomalous results of negative populations and vacuum scattering found in truncated Wigner quantum simulations in quantum optics and Bose-Einstein condensate dynamics are shown not to occur with this type of stochastic theory.

Stochastic processes that correspond to equations of arbitrary differential order are obtained.We show that stochastic paths in a complex extension of the original phase-space allow an implementation of such higher-order derivative terms.The resulting stochastic process is equivalent to the original partial differential equation in the sense of having equivalent analytic moments.However, the correspondence has unusual properties.Only the analytic moments are convergent, while non-analytic moments such as the complex moduli are non-convergent.These results unify previous approaches that transform higher-derivative equations into probabilistic stochastic equations.Larger ensembles are required as time-steps are reduced, giving these equations unusual convergence properties.This type of process is relevant to the question of how to obtain stochastic quantum simulations using the Wigner representation.

The general idea of a stochastic gauge representation is introduced and compared with more traditional phase-space expansions, like the Wigner expansion. Stochastic gauges can be used to obtain an infinite class of positive-definite stochastic time-evolution equations, equivalent to master equations, for many systems including quantum time evolution. The method is illustrated with a variety of simple examples ranging from astrophysical molecular hydrogen production, through to the topical problem of Bose–Einstein condensation in an optical trap and the resulting quantum dynamics.

We demonstrate a method which allows the stochastic modelling of quantum systems for which the generalised Fokker-Planck equation in the phase space contains derivatives of higher than second order. This generalises quantum stochastics far beyond the quantum-optical paradigm of three and four-wave mixing problems to which these techniques have so far only been applicable. To verify our method, we model a full Wigner representation for the optical parametric oscillator, a system where the correct results are well known and can be obtained by other methods. 1 I.

We demonstrate a method which allows the stochastic modelling of quantum systems for which the generalised Fokker-Planck equation in the phase space contains derivatives of higher than second order. This generalises quantum stochastics far beyond the quantum-optical paradigm of three- and four-wave mixing problems to which these techniques have so far only been applicable. To verify our method, we model a full Wigner representation for the optical parametric oscillator, a system where the correct results are well known and can be obtained by other methods.

White noise theory allows to formulate quantum white noises explicitly as elemental quantum stochastic processes. A traditional quantum stochastic differential equation of Itô type is brought into a normal-ordered white noise differential equation driven by lower powers of quantum white noises. The class of normal-ordered white noise differential equations covers quantum stochastic differential equations with highly singular noises such as higher powers or higher order derivatives of quantum white noises, which are far beyond the traditional Itô theory. For a general normal-ordered white noise differential equation unique existence of a solution is proved in the sense of white noise distribution. Its regularity properties are investigated by means of weighted Fock spaces interpolating spaces of white noise distributions and associated characterization theorems for S-transform and for operator symbols.

Non-Gaussian correlations in a pure state are inextricably linked with certain nonclassical features, such as a non-positive-definite Wigner function. In a commonly used simulation technique in ultracold atoms and quantum optics, known as the truncated Wigner method, the quantum dynamics is mapped to stochastic trajectories in phase space, governed by a positive approximation to the true Wigner distribution. The question thus arises: How accurate is this approach in predicting truly nonclassical behavior? In this article, we benchmark the ability of the truncated Wigner phase-space method to reproduce the non-Gaussian statistics of the single-mode anharmonic oscillator. We find that the this method can reliably predict departures from Gaussian statistics over a wide range of particle numbers, whereas the positive-

P

representation, which involves no approximations, is limited by rapidly growing statistical uncertainty. The truncated Wigner function, furthermore, is able to reproduce the non-Gaussian correlations while satisfying the condition for purity.