Abstract Based on a model open system, the kinetic equation obtained from the initial exact Hamiltonian with anti-rotating terms is shown to differ from the kinetic equation from the approximate effective Hamiltonian without anti-rotating terms. The paper proves necessity of transition from the exact Hamiltonian to the effective Hamiltonian, with the main idea of its construction being the requirement for the absence of rapidly varying terms in the interaction representation. This requirement is necessary to obtain the correct kinetic equation.
The application of “exact/complete” initial Hamiltonian of an open optical system and its surroundings and “approximate” effective Hamiltonian for the derivation of the kinetic equation of the open optical system is analyzed in the conditions of the Markovian approximation and the representation of the open system surroundings (thermostat) as a delta-correlated noise. It is shown that the characteristic time hierarchy of the open system naturally necessitates a transition from the aforementioned exact Hamiltonian to the approximate effective Hamiltonian for the subsequent use of the Markovian approximation and the model of delta-correlated surroundings of the open system in the local approach. The Schrödinger equation for the wavevector of the open system and its surroundings is a quantum stochastic differential equation, from which the kinetic equation describing both familiar and new results can be derived easily in the standard manner.