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Linear response theory

Abraham Nitzan

Published Jun 14, 2024• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract This chapter introduces linear response theory, a general way to describe non-equilibrium system in the vicinity of equilibrium. (1) Classical static and dynamic linear response theory. (2) Quantum static and dynamic linear response theory. (3) Causality and the Kramers–Kronig relations (4) Examples: Mobility, conductivity and diffusion. (5) Thermal noise.

DOI
10.1093/9780191947971.003.0011

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Abstract This chapter introduces linear response theory, a general way to describe non-equilibrium system in the vicinity of equilibrium. (1) Classical static and dynamic linear response theory. (2) Quantum static and dynamic linear response theory. (3) Causality and the Kramers–Kronig relations (4) Examples: Mobility, conductivity and diffusion. (5) Thermal noise.
Equilibrium statistical mechanics is a first principle theory whose fundamental statements are general and independent of the details associated with individual systems. No such general theory exists for nonequilibrium systems and for this reason we often have to resort to ad hoc descriptions, often of phenomenological nature, as demonstrated by several examples in Chapters 7 and 8. Equilibrium statistical mechanics can however be extended to describe small deviations from equilibrium in a way that preserves its general nature. The result is Linear Response Theory, a statistical mechanical perturbative expansion about equilibrium. In a standard application we start with a system in thermal equilibrium and attempt to quantify its response to an applied (static- or time-dependent) perturbation. The latter is assumed small, allowing us to keep only linear terms in a perturbative expansion. This leads to a linear relationship between this perturbation and the resulting response. Let us make these statements more quantitative. Consider a system characterized by the Hamiltonian Ĥ0.
There exists a regime of overlap between the equilibrium and non-equilibrium behavior of a system, the non-equilibrium behavior of weakly perturbed states. When a system is perturbed ever so slightly, its response will be linear in the perturbation, say the current of the conduction electrons in a metal will be proportional to the strength of the applied electric field. This regime is called the linear response regime, and though the system is in a non-equilibrium state all its characteristics can be inferred from the properties of its equilibrium state. In the next chapter we shall go beyond the linear regime by showing how to obtain quantum kinetic equations. The kinetic-equation approach to transport is a general method, and allows in principle nonlinear effects to be considered. However, in many practical situations one is interested only in the linear response of a system to an external force. The linear response limit is a tremendous simplification in comparison with general non-equilibrium conditions, and is the subject matter of this chapter. In particular the linear response of the density and current of an electron gas are discussed. The symmetry properties of response functions, and the fluctuation–dissipation theorem are established. Lastly we demonstrate how correlation functions can be measured in scattering experiments, as illustrated by considering neutron scattering from matter. Needless to say, in measurements of (say) the current in a macroscopic body, far less information in the current correlation function is probed. Linear response In this section we consider the response of an arbitrary property of a system to a general perturbation.
Abstract This chapter focuses on the properties associated with linear response. Reversibility holds in linear transformations. Schrödinger and Maxwell equations are linear, yet the world is irreversible, with time marching forward and dissipation quite ubiquitous. The connections between the quantum and microscopic scale, which are reversible and non-deterministic, to the macroscale, where irreversibility and determinism abounds, arise through interactions where both linear and nonlinear responses can appear. Causality’s implication in linear response is illustrated through a toy example and a quantum-statistical view of response. Linear response theory—using Green’s functions—is applied to develop dispersion relationships and dielectric function. The tie-in between real and imaginary parts is illustrated as one example of the Kramers-Kronig relationship, and the linear response of a damped oscillator and the Lorentz model, together with the oscillating electron model, employed to illustrate the dielectric function implications.
Linear response theory in quantum theory with its linear response function and its quantization process has been formulated. The relation between the linear response function with its generalized susceptibility, its symmetry properties, and its analyticity has been studied. These properties produce the dispersion relation or Kramers-Kronig relation. The explicit form of the quantum response function and generalized susceptibility also been reviewed. Applications of linear response functions have been described for three elementary processes. The process discussed is the magnetic field disturbance in the magnetic system that generates magnetic susceptibility, and the electric field disturbance in the electrical system that generates electrical conductivity tensor and the ferromagnet Heisenberg that generates its generalized susceptibility.
Abstract This chapter presents a universal definition of linear response, which at first is studied for the example of the damped oscillator. From the quantal time evolution operator lowest order transition rates are deduced, together with microscopic response functions. Their fundamental properties are studied, in particular, the meaning of their reactive and dissipative parts for energy transfer. Correlation functions are introduced and related to response functions by way of the fluctuation dissipation theorem. For a random matrix model, the latter is shown to also hold true for microcanonical ensembles. Connections to thermal Green functions are established and an extension of response theory to unstable modes is discussed. With the help of the Mori product, relations among the static response, the adiabatic and the isothermal susceptibilities are given. Time dependent irreversible processes are studied by introducing relaxation functions and by following the variation of the density operator and of entropy. Onsager relations are presented and Kubo's expressions for transport coefficients are given.
Abstract Linear response theory is a general formalism applicable to any physical system slightly departing from equilibrium. It allows us to express the linear response functions and the generalized susceptibilities in terms of the equilibrium correlation functions of the relevant dynamical variables. For instance, in the case of the response to an applied external field, one of the two relevant dynamical variables represents the physical quantity conjugate to the field whereas the other represents the physical quantity whose out-of-equilibrium average is measured. The computation of the linear response functions relies on a first-order perturbation expansion of the density operator (or of the phase space distribution function) of the system coupled to the field. The expressions thus obtained constitute the Kubo formulas of linear response theory.