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Decoherence in Quantum Spin Systems

Hans A. De Raedt, V. V. Dobrovitski

Published Jan 1, 2003• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

Abstract. Computer simulations of decoherence in quantum spin systems require the solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for interacting quantum spin systems over extended periods of time. We use exact diagonalization, Chebyshev polynomial technique, four Suzukiformula algorithms, and the short-iterative-Lanczos method to solve a simple model for decoherence of a quantum spin system by an environment consisting of quantum spins, and compare advantages and limitations of different algorithms. 1

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Decoherence in quantum spin systems

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Computer simulations of decoherence in quantum spin systems require the solution of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation for interacting quantum spin systems over extended periods of time. We use exact diagonalization, Chebyshev polynomial technique, four Suzuki-formula algorithms, and the short-iterative-Lanczos method to solve a simple model for decoherence of a quantum spin system by an environment consisting of quantum spins, and compare advantages and limitations of different algorithms.

arXiv:quant-ph/0301121•Jan 23, 2003•0 citations

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In this review, we discuss the decoherence and thermalization of a quantum spin system interacting with a spin bath environment, by numerically solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation of the whole system. The effects of the topologic structure and the initial state of the environment on the decoherence of the two-spin and many-spin system are discussed. The role of different spin-spin coupling is considered. We show under which conditions the environment drives the reduced density matrix of the system to a fully decoherent state, and how the diagonal elements of the reduced density matrix approach those expected for the system in the microcanonical or canonical ensemble, depending on the character of the additional integrals of motion. Our demonstration does not rely on time-averaging of observables nor does it assume that the coupling between system and bath is weak. Our findings show that the microcanonical distribution (in each eigenenergy subspace) and canonical ensemble are states that may result from pure quantum dynamics, suggesting that quantum mechanics may be regarded as the foundation of quantum statistical mechanics. Furthermore, our numerical results show that a fully decoherent quantum system prefers to stay in an equilibrium state with a maximum entropy, indicating the validity of the second law of thermodynamics in the decoherence process.

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Abstract We study quantum decoherence numerically in a system consisting of a relativistic quantum field theory coupled to a measuring device that is itself coupled to an environment. The measuring device and environment are treated as quantum, non-relativistic particles. We solve the Schrödinger equation for the wave function of this tripartite system using exact diagonalization. Although computational limitations on the size of the Hilbert space prevent us from exploring the regime where the device and environment consist of a truly macroscopic number of degrees of freedom, we nevertheless see clear evidence of decoherence: after tracing out the environment, the density matrix describing the system and measuring device evolves quickly towards a matrix that is close to diagonal in a subspace of pointer states. We measure the speed with which decoherence spreads in the relativistic quantum field theory for a range of parameters. We find that it is less than the speed of light but faster than the speed of the massive charges in the initial state.

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Exact Diagonalization Techniques for Quantum Spin Systems

Jürgen Schnack

The essence of quantum magnetism lies in correlated many-body states. They determine the physical properties beyond paramagnetism. Even constructions as simple as singlets or triplets cannot be understood without the mathematical concept of superpositions. This is even more evident if time evolution of quantum states and phenomena such as quantum coherenceQuantum coherence are considered. The major approach to assess correlated many-body states in quantum magnetism of molecules is exact diagonalizationDiagonalization of the many-body Hamiltonian describing the physical system. Symmetries are of great help when tackling the numerical task of matrix diagonalization since they allow to decompose a problem of large Hilbert spaceHilbert space dimension into a number of smaller problems. This approach will be presented first. It rests on the identification of the available symmetries—e.g., U(1), SU(2), as well as point groupsPoint group—and their application. However, the applicability of exact diagonalizationDiagonalization is limited by the exponential growth of the Hilbert spaceHilbert space of the spin system with the number of spins: $$\dim \left( {\mathcal{H}} \right) = \mathop \prod \nolimits_{i} \left( {2 s_{i} + 1} \right)$$ . Nowadays, complex Hermitian matricesHermitian matrices of a linear dimension of about 100,000 can be completely diagonalized on supercomputers which limits the number of spins depending on their size $$s_{i}$$ to just a few. I will therefore present a very accurate approximation to exact diagonalization that rests on Lanczos procedures and the concept of typicality. The most popular version, the finite-temperature Lanczos methodFinite-Temperature Lanczos Method (FTLM), allows to evaluate low-energy spectroscopic data, thermal averages as well as time evolutions for systems with Hilbert space dimensions of up to about 1011. Hands-on experience and examples will be provided.

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Pei-Liang Zhao, Hans A. De Raedt, Seiji Miyashita +2 more

Data of the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation of a system containing one spin-1/2 particle interacting with a bath of up to 32 spin-1/2 particles is used to construct a Markovian quantum master equation describing the dynamics of the system spin. The procedure of obtaining this quantum master equation, which takes the form of a Bloch equation with time-independent coefficients, accounts for all non-Markovian effects inasmuch the general structure of the quantum master equation allows. Our simulation results show that, with a few rather exotic exceptions, the Bloch-type equation with time-independent coefficients provides a simple and accurate description of the dynamics of a spin-1/2 particle in contact with a thermal bath. A calculation of the coefficients that appear in the Redfield master equation in the Markovian limit shows that this perturbatively derived equation quantitatively differs from the numerically estimated Markovian master equation, the results of which agree very well with the solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation.

arXiv:1605.06609•Physical review. E•Aug 19, 2016•16 citations
Abstract. Computer simulations of decoherence in quantum spin systems require the solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for interacting quantum spin systems over extended periods of time. We use exact diagonalization, Chebyshev polynomial technique, four Suzukiformula algorithms, and the short-iterative-Lanczos method to solve a simple model for decoherence of a quantum spin system by an environment consisting of quantum spins, and compare advantages and limitations of different algorithms. 1
In this review, we discuss the decoherence and thermalization of a quantum spin system interacting with a spin bath environment, by numerically solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation of the whole system. The effects of the topologic structure and the initial state of the environment on the decoherence of the two-spin and many-spin system are discussed. The role of different spin-spin coupling is considered. We show under which conditions the environment drives the reduced density matrix of the system to a fully decoherent state, and how the diagonal elements of the reduced density matrix approach those expected for the system in the microcanonical or canonical ensemble, depending on the character of the additional integrals of motion. Our demonstration does not rely on time-averaging of observables nor does it assume that the coupling between system and bath is weak. Our findings show that the microcanonical distribution (in each eigenenergy subspace) and canonical ensemble are states that may result from pure quantum dynamics, suggesting that quantum mechanics may be regarded as the foundation of quantum statistical mechanics. Furthermore, our numerical results show that a fully decoherent quantum system prefers to stay in an equilibrium state with a maximum entropy, indicating the validity of the second law of thermodynamics in the decoherence process.
We demonstrate that the Chebyshev expansion method is a very efficient numerical tool for studying spin-bath decoherence of quantum systems. We consider two typical problems arising in studying decoherence of quantum systems consisting of a few coupled spins: (i) determining the pointer states of the system and (ii) determining the temporal decay of quantum oscillations. As our results demonstrate, for determining the pointer states, the Chebyshev-based scheme is at least a factor of 8 faster than existing algorithms based on the Suzuki-Trotter decomposition. For problems of the second type, the Chebyshev-based approach is 3-4 times faster than the Suzuki-Trotter-based schemes. This conclusion holds qualitatively for a wide spectrum of systems, with different spin baths and different Hamiltonians.
Abstract We study quantum decoherence numerically in a system consisting of a relativistic quantum field theory coupled to a measuring device that is itself coupled to an environment. The measuring device and environment are treated as quantum, non-relativistic particles. We solve the Schrödinger equation for the wave function of this tripartite system using exact diagonalization. Although computational limitations on the size of the Hilbert space prevent us from exploring the regime where the device and environment consist of a truly macroscopic number of degrees of freedom, we nevertheless see clear evidence of decoherence: after tracing out the environment, the density matrix describing the system and measuring device evolves quickly towards a matrix that is close to diagonal in a subspace of pointer states. We measure the speed with which decoherence spreads in the relativistic quantum field theory for a range of parameters. We find that it is less than the speed of light but faster than the speed of the massive charges in the initial state.
The essence of quantum magnetism lies in correlated many-body states. They determine the physical properties beyond paramagnetism. Even constructions as simple as singlets or triplets cannot be understood without the mathematical concept of superpositions. This is even more evident if time evolution of quantum states and phenomena such as quantum coherenceQuantum coherence are considered. The major approach to assess correlated many-body states in quantum magnetism of molecules is exact diagonalizationDiagonalization of the many-body Hamiltonian describing the physical system. Symmetries are of great help when tackling the numerical task of matrix diagonalization since they allow to decompose a problem of large Hilbert spaceHilbert space dimension into a number of smaller problems. This approach will be presented first. It rests on the identification of the available symmetries—e.g., U(1), SU(2), as well as point groupsPoint group—and their application. However, the applicability of exact diagonalizationDiagonalization is limited by the exponential growth of the Hilbert spaceHilbert space of the spin system with the number of spins: $$\dim \left( {\mathcal{H}} \right) = \mathop \prod \nolimits_{i} \left( {2 s_{i} + 1} \right)$$ . Nowadays, complex Hermitian matricesHermitian matrices of a linear dimension of about 100,000 can be completely diagonalized on supercomputers which limits the number of spins depending on their size sis_{i}si​ to just a few. I will therefore present a very accurate approximation to exact diagonalization that rests on Lanczos procedures and the concept of typicality. The most popular version, the finite-temperature Lanczos methodFinite-Temperature Lanczos Method (FTLM), allows to evaluate low-energy spectroscopic data, thermal averages as well as time evolutions for systems with Hilbert space dimensions of up to about 1011. Hands-on experience and examples will be provided.
Data of the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation of a system containing one spin-1/2 particle interacting with a bath of up to 32 spin-1/2 particles is used to construct a Markovian quantum master equation describing the dynamics of the system spin. The procedure of obtaining this quantum master equation, which takes the form of a Bloch equation with time-independent coefficients, accounts for all non-Markovian effects inasmuch the general structure of the quantum master equation allows. Our simulation results show that, with a few rather exotic exceptions, the Bloch-type equation with time-independent coefficients provides a simple and accurate description of the dynamics of a spin-1/2 particle in contact with a thermal bath. A calculation of the coefficients that appear in the Redfield master equation in the Markovian limit shows that this perturbatively derived equation quantitatively differs from the numerically estimated Markovian master equation, the results of which agree very well with the solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation.