A nonperturbative method is developed for calculating the excitation of a many-body system by a time-dependent Hamiltonian. The stationary-phase approximation to a functional-integral representation of the interaction-picture many-body evolution operator results in a mean-field approximation to the
S matrix which is asymptotically time independent. A one-body temporally nonlocal evolution equation defines the stationary mean-field configurations. The general method and character of the stationary solutions are illustrated by application to the forced harmonic oscillator and forced Lipkin model. Potential applications to realistic nuclear and atomic scattering situations are discussed.NUCLEAR REACTIONS Mean-field approximation, many-body
S matrix, time-dependent Hartree Fock.
We use the mean-field approximation to simplify the master equation for sympathetic cooling of bosons. For the mean single-particle occupation numbers, this approach yields the same equations as the factorization assumption introduced in an early paper. The stationary or equilibrium solution of the resulting master equation for the one-body density matrix shows that the mean-field approximation breaks down whenever the fraction of condensate bosons exceeds 10% or so of the total. Using group-theoretical methods, we also solve the time-dependent master equation for the one-body density matrix. Given the time dependence of the mean single-particle occupation numbers, this solution is obtained by quadratures. It tends asymptotically towards the equilibrium solution.