Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

The Journal of Chemical Physics

Convergence of high order memory kernels in the Nakajima-Zwanzig generalized master equation and rate constants: Case study of the spin-boson model

Meng Xu, Yaming Yan, Yanying Liu, Qiang Shi

Published Apr 24, 2018• 31 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The Nakajima-Zwanzig generalized master equation provides a formally exact framework to simulate quantum dynamics in condensed phases. Yet, the exact memory kernel is hard to obtain and calculations based on perturbative expansions are often employed. By using the spin-boson model as an example, we assess the convergence of high order memory kernels in the Nakajima-Zwanzig generalized master equation. The exact memory kernels are calculated by combining the hierarchical equation of motion approach and the Dyson expansion of the exact memory kernel. High order expansions of the memory kernels are obtained by extending our previous work to calculate perturbative expansions of open system quantum dynamics [M. Xu et al., J. Chem. Phys. 146, 064102 (2017)]. It is found that the high order expansions do not necessarily converge in certain parameter regimes where the exact kernel show a long memory time, especially in cases of slow bath, weak system-bath coupling, and low temperature. Effectiveness of the Padé and Landau-Zener resummation approaches is tested, and the convergence of higher order rate constants beyond Fermi's golden rule is investigated.

DOI
10.1063/1.5022761

Related papers

Resummed memory kernels in generalized system-bath master equations

Michael G. Mavros, Troy Van Voorhis

Generalized master equations provide a concise formalism for studying reduced population dynamics. Usually, these master equations require a perturbative expansion of the memory kernels governing the dynamics; in order to prevent divergences, these expansions must be resummed. Resummation techniques of perturbation series are ubiquitous in physics, but they have not been readily studied for the time-dependent memory kernels used in generalized master equations. In this paper, we present a comparison of different resummation techniques for such memory kernels up to fourth order. We study specifically the spin-boson Hamiltonian as a model system bath Hamiltonian, treating the diabatic coupling between the two states as a perturbation. A novel derivation of the fourth-order memory kernel for the spin-boson problem is presented; then, the second- and fourth-order kernels are evaluated numerically for a variety of spin-boson parameter regimes. We find that resumming the kernels through fourth order using a Padé approximant results in divergent populations in the strong electronic coupling regime due to a singularity introduced by the nature of the resummation, and thus recommend a non-divergent exponential resummation (the "Landau-Zener resummation" of previous work). The inclusion of fourth-order effects in a Landau-Zener-resummed kernel is shown to improve both the dephasing rate and the obedience of detailed balance over simpler prescriptions like the non-interacting blip approximation, showing a relatively quick convergence on the exact answer. The results suggest that including higher-order contributions to the memory kernel of a generalized master equation and performing an appropriate resummation can provide a numerically-exact solution to system-bath dynamics for a general spectral density, opening the way to a new class of methods for treating system-bath dynamics.

The Journal of Chemical Physics•Aug 7, 2014•29 citations

Exact generator and its high order expansions in time-convolutionless generalized master equation: Applications to spin-boson model and excitation energy transfer

Yanying Liu, Yaming Yan, Meng Xu +2 more

The time-convolutionless (TCL) quantum master equation provides a powerful tool to simulate reduced dynamics of a quantum system coupled to a bath. The key quantity in the TCL master equation is the so-called kernel or generator, which describes effects of the bath degrees of freedom. Since the exact TCL generators are usually hard to calculate analytically, most applications of the TCL generalized master equation have relied on approximate generators using second and fourth order perturbative expansions. By using the hierarchical equation of motion (HEOM) and extended HEOM methods, we present a new approach to calculating the exact TCL generator and its high order perturbative expansions. The new approach is applied to the spin-boson model with different sets of parameters, to investigate the convergence of the high order expansions of the TCL generator. We also discuss circumstances where the exact TCL generator becomes singular for the spin-boson model, and a model of excitation energy transfer in the Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex.

arXiv:1806.07540•Chinese Journal of Chemical Physics•Aug 1, 2018•15 citations

A modified approach for simulating electronically nonadiabatic dynamics via the generalized quantum master equation

Ellen Mulvihill, Alexander Schubert, Xiang Sun +2 more

We present a modified approach for simulating electronically nonadiabatic dynamics based on the Nakajima-Zwanzig generalized quantum master equation (GQME). The modified approach utilizes the fact that the Nakajima-Zwanzig formalism does not require casting the overall Hamiltonian in system-bath form, which is arguably neither natural nor convenient in the case of the Hamiltonian that governs nonadiabatic dynamics. Within the modified approach, the effect of the nuclear degrees of freedom on the time evolution of the electronic reduced density operator is fully captured by a memory kernel super-operator. A methodology for calculating the memory kernel from projection-free inputs is developed. Simulating the electronic dynamics via the modified approach, with a memory kernel obtained using exact or approximate methods, can be more cost effective and/or lead to more accurate results than direct application of those methods. The modified approach is compared to previously proposed GQME-based approaches, and its robustness and accuracy are demonstrated on a benchmark spin-boson model with a memory kernel which is calculated within the Ehrenfest method.

The Journal of Chemical Physics•Jan 16, 2019•58 citations

Nonequilibrium quantum dynamics in the condensed phase via the generalized quantum master equation

Ming-Liang Zhang, Being J. Ka, Eitan Geva

The Nakajima-Zwanzig generalized quantum master equation provides a general, and formally exact, prescription for simulating the reduced dynamics of a quantum system coupled to a quantum bath. In this equation, the memory kernel accounts for the influence of the bath on the system's dynamics, and the inhomogeneous term accounts for initial system-bath correlations. In this paper, we propose a new approach for calculating the memory kernel and inhomogeneous term for arbitrary initial state and system-bath coupling. The memory kernel and inhomogeneous term are obtained by numerically solving a single inhomogeneous Volterra equation of the second kind for each. The new approach can accommodate a very wide range of projection operators, and requires projection-free two-time correlation functions as input. An application to the case of a two-state system with diagonal coupling to an arbitrary bath is described in detail. Finally, the utility and self-consistency of the formalism are demonstrated by an explicit calculation on a spin-boson model.

The Journal of Chemical Physics•Jul 28, 2006•89 citations

Approximate but accurate quantum dynamics from the Mori formalism. II. Equilibrium time correlation functions

Andrés Montoya−Castillo, David R. Reichman

The ability to efficiently and accurately calculate equilibrium time correlation functions of many-body condensed phase quantum systems is one of the outstanding problems in theoretical chemistry. The Nakajima-Zwanzig-Mori formalism coupled to the self-consistent solution of the memory kernel has recently proven to be highly successful for the computation of nonequilibrium dynamical averages. Here, we extend this formalism to treat symmetrized equilibrium time correlation functions for the spin-boson model. Following the first paper in this series [A. Montoya-Castillo and D. R. Reichman, J. Chem. Phys. 144, 184104 (2016)], we use a Dyson-type expansion of the projected propagator to obtain a self-consistent solution for the memory kernel that requires only the calculation of normally evolved auxiliary kernels. We employ the approximate mean-field Ehrenfest method to demonstrate the feasibility of this approach. Via comparison with numerically exact results for the correlation function Czz(t)=Re⟨σz(0)σz(t)⟩, we show that the current scheme affords remarkable boosts in accuracy and efficiency over bare Ehrenfest dynamics. We further explore the sensitivity of the resulting dynamics to the choice of kernel closures and the accuracy of the initial canonical density operator.

arXiv:1610.04242•The Journal of Chemical Physics•Feb 24, 2017•40 citations

About the performance of perturbative treatments of the spin-boson dynamics within the hierarchical equations of motion approach

Meng Xu, Joachim Ankerhold

Abstract The hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM) provide a numerically exact approach for simulating the dynamics of open quantum systems coupled to a harmonic bath. However, its applicability has traditionally been limited to specific spectral forms and relatively high temperatures. Recently, an extended version called Free-Pole HEOM (FP-HEOM) has been developed to overcome these limitations. In this study, we demonstrate that the FP-HEOM method can be systematically employed to investigate higher order master equations by truncating the FP-HEOM hierarchy at a desired tier. We focus on the challenging scenario of the spin-boson problem with a sub-Ohmic spectral distribution at zero temperature and analyze the performance of the corresponding master equations. Furthermore, we compare the memory kernel for population dynamics obtained from the exact FP-HEOM dynamics with that of the approximate Non-Interacting-Blip Approximation (NIBA).

arXiv:2308.02010•The European Physical Journal Special Topics•Oct 11, 2023•5 citations
The Nakajima-Zwanzig generalized master equation provides a formally exact framework to simulate quantum dynamics in condensed phases. Yet, the exact memory kernel is hard to obtain and calculations based on perturbative expansions are often employed. By using the spin-boson model as an example, we assess the convergence of high order memory kernels in the Nakajima-Zwanzig generalized master equation. The exact memory kernels are calculated by combining the hierarchical equation of motion approach and the Dyson expansion of the exact memory kernel. High order expansions of the memory kernels are obtained by extending our previous work to calculate perturbative expansions of open system quantum dynamics [M. Xu et al., J. Chem. Phys. 146, 064102 (2017)]. It is found that the high order expansions do not necessarily converge in certain parameter regimes where the exact kernel show a long memory time, especially in cases of slow bath, weak system-bath coupling, and low temperature. Effectiveness of the Padé and Landau-Zener resummation approaches is tested, and the convergence of higher order rate constants beyond Fermi's golden rule is investigated.
Generalized master equations provide a concise formalism for studying reduced population dynamics. Usually, these master equations require a perturbative expansion of the memory kernels governing the dynamics; in order to prevent divergences, these expansions must be resummed. Resummation techniques of perturbation series are ubiquitous in physics, but they have not been readily studied for the time-dependent memory kernels used in generalized master equations. In this paper, we present a comparison of different resummation techniques for such memory kernels up to fourth order. We study specifically the spin-boson Hamiltonian as a model system bath Hamiltonian, treating the diabatic coupling between the two states as a perturbation. A novel derivation of the fourth-order memory kernel for the spin-boson problem is presented; then, the second- and fourth-order kernels are evaluated numerically for a variety of spin-boson parameter regimes. We find that resumming the kernels through fourth order using a Padé approximant results in divergent populations in the strong electronic coupling regime due to a singularity introduced by the nature of the resummation, and thus recommend a non-divergent exponential resummation (the "Landau-Zener resummation" of previous work). The inclusion of fourth-order effects in a Landau-Zener-resummed kernel is shown to improve both the dephasing rate and the obedience of detailed balance over simpler prescriptions like the non-interacting blip approximation, showing a relatively quick convergence on the exact answer. The results suggest that including higher-order contributions to the memory kernel of a generalized master equation and performing an appropriate resummation can provide a numerically-exact solution to system-bath dynamics for a general spectral density, opening the way to a new class of methods for treating system-bath dynamics.
The time-convolutionless (TCL) quantum master equation provides a powerful tool to simulate reduced dynamics of a quantum system coupled to a bath. The key quantity in the TCL master equation is the so-called kernel or generator, which describes effects of the bath degrees of freedom. Since the exact TCL generators are usually hard to calculate analytically, most applications of the TCL generalized master equation have relied on approximate generators using second and fourth order perturbative expansions. By using the hierarchical equation of motion (HEOM) and extended HEOM methods, we present a new approach to calculating the exact TCL generator and its high order perturbative expansions. The new approach is applied to the spin-boson model with different sets of parameters, to investigate the convergence of the high order expansions of the TCL generator. We also discuss circumstances where the exact TCL generator becomes singular for the spin-boson model, and a model of excitation energy transfer in the Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex.
We present a modified approach for simulating electronically nonadiabatic dynamics based on the Nakajima-Zwanzig generalized quantum master equation (GQME). The modified approach utilizes the fact that the Nakajima-Zwanzig formalism does not require casting the overall Hamiltonian in system-bath form, which is arguably neither natural nor convenient in the case of the Hamiltonian that governs nonadiabatic dynamics. Within the modified approach, the effect of the nuclear degrees of freedom on the time evolution of the electronic reduced density operator is fully captured by a memory kernel super-operator. A methodology for calculating the memory kernel from projection-free inputs is developed. Simulating the electronic dynamics via the modified approach, with a memory kernel obtained using exact or approximate methods, can be more cost effective and/or lead to more accurate results than direct application of those methods. The modified approach is compared to previously proposed GQME-based approaches, and its robustness and accuracy are demonstrated on a benchmark spin-boson model with a memory kernel which is calculated within the Ehrenfest method.
The Nakajima-Zwanzig generalized quantum master equation provides a general, and formally exact, prescription for simulating the reduced dynamics of a quantum system coupled to a quantum bath. In this equation, the memory kernel accounts for the influence of the bath on the system's dynamics, and the inhomogeneous term accounts for initial system-bath correlations. In this paper, we propose a new approach for calculating the memory kernel and inhomogeneous term for arbitrary initial state and system-bath coupling. The memory kernel and inhomogeneous term are obtained by numerically solving a single inhomogeneous Volterra equation of the second kind for each. The new approach can accommodate a very wide range of projection operators, and requires projection-free two-time correlation functions as input. An application to the case of a two-state system with diagonal coupling to an arbitrary bath is described in detail. Finally, the utility and self-consistency of the formalism are demonstrated by an explicit calculation on a spin-boson model.
The ability to efficiently and accurately calculate equilibrium time correlation functions of many-body condensed phase quantum systems is one of the outstanding problems in theoretical chemistry. The Nakajima-Zwanzig-Mori formalism coupled to the self-consistent solution of the memory kernel has recently proven to be highly successful for the computation of nonequilibrium dynamical averages. Here, we extend this formalism to treat symmetrized equilibrium time correlation functions for the spin-boson model. Following the first paper in this series [A. Montoya-Castillo and D. R. Reichman, J. Chem. Phys. 144, 184104 (2016)], we use a Dyson-type expansion of the projected propagator to obtain a self-consistent solution for the memory kernel that requires only the calculation of normally evolved auxiliary kernels. We employ the approximate mean-field Ehrenfest method to demonstrate the feasibility of this approach. Via comparison with numerically exact results for the correlation function Czz(t)=Re⟨σz(0)σz(t)⟩, we show that the current scheme affords remarkable boosts in accuracy and efficiency over bare Ehrenfest dynamics. We further explore the sensitivity of the resulting dynamics to the choice of kernel closures and the accuracy of the initial canonical density operator.
Abstract The hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM) provide a numerically exact approach for simulating the dynamics of open quantum systems coupled to a harmonic bath. However, its applicability has traditionally been limited to specific spectral forms and relatively high temperatures. Recently, an extended version called Free-Pole HEOM (FP-HEOM) has been developed to overcome these limitations. In this study, we demonstrate that the FP-HEOM method can be systematically employed to investigate higher order master equations by truncating the FP-HEOM hierarchy at a desired tier. We focus on the challenging scenario of the spin-boson problem with a sub-Ohmic spectral distribution at zero temperature and analyze the performance of the corresponding master equations. Furthermore, we compare the memory kernel for population dynamics obtained from the exact FP-HEOM dynamics with that of the approximate Non-Interacting-Blip Approximation (NIBA).