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Numerical path integral approach to quantum dynamics and stationary quantum states

Tapio T. Rantala

Published Aug 17, 2016• 5 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Applicability of Feynman path integral approach to numerical simulations of quantum dynamics in real time domain is examined. Coherent quantum dynamics is demonstrated with one dimensional test cases (quantum dot models) and performance of the Trotter kernel as compared with the exact kernels is tested. A novel approach for finding the ground state and other stationary sates is presented. This is based on the incoherent propagation in real time. For both approaches the Monte Carlo grid and sampling are tested and compared with regular grids and sampling. We asses the numerical prerequisites for all of the above. ar

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Applicability of Feynman path integral approach to numerical simulations of quantum dynamics in real time domain is examined. Coherent quantum dynamics is demonstrated with one dimensional test cases (quantum dot models) and performance of the Trotter kernel as compared with the exact kernels is tested. A novel approach for finding the ground state and other stationary sates is presented. This is based on the incoherent propagation in real time. For both approaches the Monte Carlo grid and sampling are tested and compared with regular grids and sampling. We asses the numerical prerequisites for all of the above. ar
Applicability of Feynman path integral approach to numerical simulations of quantum dynamics of an electron in real time domain is examined. Coherent quantum dynamics is demonstrated with one dimensional test cases (quantum dot models) and performance of the Trotter kernel as compared with the exact kernels is tested. Also, a novel approach for finding the ground state and other stationary sates is presented. This is based on the incoherent propagation in real time. For both approaches the Monte Carlo grid and sampling are tested and compared with regular grids and sampling. We asses the numerical prerequisites for all of the above.
Recent progress in numerical methods for evaluating the real-time path integral in dissipative harmonic environments is reviewed. Quasi-adiabatic propagators constructed numerically allow convergence of the path integral with large time increments. Integration of the harmonic bath leads to path integral expressions that incorporate the exact dynamics of the quantum particle along the adiabatic path, with an influence functional that describes nonadiabatic corrections. The resulting quasi-adiabatic propagator path integral is evaluated by efficient system-specific quadratures in most regimes of parameter space, although some cases are handled by grid Monte Carlo sampling. Exploiting the finite span of nonlocal influence functional interactions characteristic of broad condensed phase spectra leads to an iterative scheme for calculating the path integral over arbitrary time lengths. No uncontrolled approximations are introduced, and the resulting methodology converges to the exact quantum result with modest amounts of computational power. Applications to tunneling dynamics in the condensed phase are described.
A real-time path-integral Monte Carlo approach is developed to study the dynamics in a many-body quantum system coupled to a phonon background until reaching a nonequilibrium stationary state. The approach is based on augmenting an exact reduced equation for the evolution of the system in the interaction picture which is amenable to an efficient path integral (worldline) Monte Carlo approach. Results obtained for a model of inelastic tunneling spectroscopy reveal the applicability of the approach to a wide range of physically important regimes, including high (classical) and low (quantum) temperatures, and weak (perturbative) and strong electron-phonon couplings.
We present a numerically exact procedure for the calculation of an important class of finite temperature quantum mechanical time correlation functions. The present approach is based around the stationary phase Monte Carlo (SPMC) method, a general mathematical tool for the calculation of high dimensional averages of oscillatory integrands. In the present context the method makes possible the direct numerical path integral calculation of real-time quantum dynamical quantities for times appreciably greater than the thermal time (βℏ). Illustrative applications involving finite temperature anharmonic motion are presented. Issues of importance with respect to future applications are identified and discussed.
We describe an efficient path integral scheme for calculating the propagator of an arbitrary quantum system, as well as that of a stochastic system in special cases where the Fokker–Planck equation obeys strict detailed balance. The basic idea is to split the respective Hamiltonian into two exactly solvable parts and then to employ a symmetric decomposition of the time evolution operator, which is exact up to a high order in the time step. The resulting single step propagator allows rather large time steps in a path integral and leads to convergence with fewer time slices. Because it involves no system-specific reference system, the algorithm is amenable to all known numerical schemes available for evaluating quantum path integrals. In this way one obtains a highly accurate method, which is simultaneously fast, stable, and computationally simple. Numerical applications to the real time quantum dynamics in a double well and to the stochastic dynamics of a bistable system coupled to a harmonic mode show our method to be superior over the approach developed by the Makri group in their quasiadiabatic propagator representation, to say nothing about the propagation scheme based on the standard Trotter splitting.
The numerical evaluation of coherent-state path integrals for quantum dynamical problems is discussed for one-dimensional examples. To propagate an initial state, we use the normal and antinormal ordered coherent-state path integrals combined with a split-operator technique dividing the Hamiltonian into harmonic and anharmonic parts. For numerical purposes integrations must be approximated by quadrature formulae. This leads to a matrix multiplication scheme which is systematically tested for the double-well and Morse potentials. The method is accurate for propagation times much longer than the natural time scale of the system, and it allows for short as well as long time steps without loss of stability.