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Semiclassical Diagonalization of Quantum Hamiltonian and Equations of Motion with Berry Phase Corrections

Pierre Gosselin, Alain Bérard, Hervé Mohrbach

Published Mar 24, 2006• 33 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

It has been recently found that the equations of motion of several semiclassical systems must take into account terms arising from Berry phases contributions. Those terms are responsible for the spin Hall effect in semiconductor as well as the Magnus effect of light propagating in inhomogeneous media. Intensive ongoing research on this subject seems to indicate that a broad class of quantum systems may be affected by Berry phase terms. It is therefore important to find a general procedure allowing for the determination of semiclassical Hamiltonian with Berry Phase corrections. This article presents a general diagonalization method at order $\\hbar $ for a large class of quantum Hamiltonians directly inducing Berry phase corrections. As a consequence, Berry phase terms on both coordinates and momentum operators naturally arise during the diagonalization procedure. This leads to new equations of motion for a wide class of semiclassical system. As physical applications we consider here a Dirac particle in an electromagnetic or static gravitational field, and the propagation of a Bloch electrons in an external electromagnetic field.

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It has been recently found that the equations of motion of several semiclassical systems must take into account terms arising from Berry phases contributions. Those terms are responsible for the spin Hall effect in semiconductor as well as the Magnus effect of light propagating in inhomogeneous media. Intensive ongoing research on this subject seems to indicate that a broad class of quantum systems may be affected by Berry phase terms. It is therefore important to find a general procedure allowing for the determination of semiclassical Hamiltonian with Berry Phase corrections. This article presents a general diagonalization method at order hbar\\hbar hbar for a large class of quantum Hamiltonians directly inducing Berry phase corrections. As a consequence, Berry phase terms on both coordinates and momentum operators naturally arise during the diagonalization procedure. This leads to new equations of motion for a wide class of semiclassical system. As physical applications we consider here a Dirac particle in an electromagnetic or static gravitational field, and the propagation of a Bloch electrons in an external electromagnetic field.
It has been recently found that the equations of motion of several semiclassical systems must take into account anomalous velocity terms arising from Berry phase contributions. Those terms are for instance responsible for the spin Hall effect in semiconductors or the gravitational birefringence of photons propagating in a static gravitational field. Intensive ongoing research on this subject seems to indicate that actually a broad class of quantum systems might have their dynamics affected by Berry phase terms. In this article we review the implication of a new diagonalization method for generic matrix valued Hamiltonians based on a formal expansion in power of ℏ\hbarℏ. In this approach both the diagonal energy operator and dynamical operators which depend on Berry phase terms and thus form a noncommutative algebra, can be expanded in power series in \hbar $. Focusing on the semiclassical approximation, we will see that a large class of quantum systems, ranging from relativistic Dirac particles in strong external fields to Bloch electrons in solids have their dynamics radically modified by Berry terms.
It has been recently found that the equations of motion of several semiclassical systems must take into account anomalous velocity terms arising from Berry phase contributions. Those terms are for instance responsible for the spin Hall effect in semiconductors or the gravitational birefringence of photons propagating in a static gravitational field. Intensive ongoing research on this subject seems to indicate that actually a broad class of quantum systems might have their dynamics affected by Berry phase terms. In this article we review the implication of a new diagonalization method for generic matrix valued Hamiltonians based on a formal expansion in power of ℏ\hbarℏ. In this approach both the diagonal energy operator and dynamical operators which depend on Berry phase terms and thus form a noncommutative algebra, can be expanded in power series in \hbar $. Focusing on the semiclassical approximation, we will see that a large class of quantum systems, ranging from relativistic Dirac particles in strong external fields to Bloch electrons in solids have their dynamics radically modified by Berry terms.
The dynamics of observables which are matrices depending on ℏ and taking values in classical phase-space is defined by retaining the terms up to the first order in ℏ of the Moyal bracket. Within this semiclassical approach a first-order Lagrangian involving gauge fields is studied as a constrained Hamiltonian system. This provides a systematic study of spin dynamics in the presence of non-Abelian Berry gauge fields. We applied the method to various types of dynamical spin systems and clarified some persisting discussions. In particular employing the Berry gauge field which generates the Thomas precession, we calculated the force exerted on an electron in the external electric and magnetic fields. Moreover, a simple semiclassical formulation of the spin Hall effect is accomplished.
The relativistic semiclassical evolution of the position of an electron in the presence of an external electromagnetic field is studied in terms of a Newton equation that incorporates spin effects directly. This equation emerges from the Dirac equation and allows the identification of scenarios where spin effects are necessary to understand the main characteristics of the electron trajectories. It involves the eigenvalues of the non-Hermitian operator ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\nu}}{F}^{\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\nu}}$, with ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}}_{\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\nu}}$ and ${F}^{\ensuremath{\mu}\ensuremath{\nu}}$ as the spin and electromagnetic tensors. The formalism allows a deeper understanding on the physics behind known analytical solutions of the Dirac equation when translational dynamics seem to decouple from spin evolution. As an illustrative example, it is applied to an electron immersed in an electromagnetic field which exhibits chiral symmetry and optical vortices. It is shown that the polarization of intense structured light beams can be used to suppress or enhance spin effects on the electron semiclassical trajectory; the latter configuration yields a realization of a Stern-Gerlach apparatus for an electron.
Geometric phases in quantum mechanics play an extraordinary role in broadening our understanding of fundamental significance of geometry in nature. One of the best known examples is the Berry phase [M.V. Berry (1984), Proc. Royal. Soc. London A, 392:45], which naturally emerges in quantum adiabatic evolution. So far the applicability and measurements of the Berry phase were mostly limited to systems of weakly interacting quasi-particles, where interference experiments are feasible. Here we show how one can go beyond this limitation and observe the Berry curvature, and hence the Berry phase, in generic systems as a nonadiabatic response of physical observables to the rate of change of an external parameter. These results can be interpreted as a dynamical quantum Hall effect in a parameter space. The conventional quantum Hall effect is a particular example of the general relation if one views the electric field as a rate of change of the vector potential. We illustrate our findings by analyzing the response of interacting spin chains to a rotating magnetic field. We observe the quantization of this response, which we term the rotational quantum Hall effect.