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Ukrains’kyi Matematychnyi Zhurnal

Квантово-класичне рівняння Вігнера-Ліувілля

R. Kapral, A. Sergi, А. Сергі

Published Jun 25, 2005• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We consider a quantum system that is partitioned into a subsystem and a bath. Starting from the Wigner transform of the von Neumann equation for the quantum-mechanical density matrix of the entire system, the quantum-classical Wigner-Liouville equation is obtained in the limit where the masses M of the bath particles are large as compared with the masses m of the subsystem particles. The structure of this equation is discussed and it is shown how the abstract operator form of the quantum-classical Liouville equation is obtained by taking the inverse Wigner transform on the subsystem. Solutions in terms of classical trajectory segments and quantum transition or momentum jumps are described.

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Mixed quantum-classical equations of motion are derived for a quantum subsystem of light (mass m) particles coupled to a classical bath of massive (mass M) particles. The equation of motion follows from a partial Wigner transform over the bath degrees of freedom of the Liouville equation for the full quantum system, followed by an expansion in the small parameter μ=(m/M)1/2 in analogy with the theory of Brownian motion. The resulting mixed quantum-classical Liouville equation accounts for the coupled evolution of the subsystem and bath. The quantum subsystem is represented in an adiabatic (or other) basis and the series solution of the Liouville equation leads to a representation of the dynamics in an ensemble of surface-hopping trajectories. A generalized Pauli master equation for the evolution of the diagonal elements of the density matrix is derived by projection operator methods and its structure is analyzed in terms of surface-hopping trajectories.

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An algorithm is presented for the exact solution of the evolution of the density matrix of a mixed quantum-classical system in terms of an ensemble of surface hopping trajectories. The system comprises a quantum subsystem coupled to a classical bath whose evolution is governed by a mixed quantum-classical Liouville equation. The integral solution of the evolution equation is formulated in terms of a concatenation of classical evolution segments for the bath phase space coordinates separated by operators that change the quantum state and bath momenta. A hybrid Molecular Dynamics–Monte Carlo scheme which follows a branching tree of trajectories arising from the action of momentum derivatives is constructed to solve the integral equation. We also consider a simpler scheme where changes in the bath momenta are approximated by momentum jumps. These schemes are illustrated by considering the computation of the evolution of the density matrix for a two-level system coupled to a low dimensional classical bath.

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Solving quantum dynamics is an exponentially difficult problem. Thus, an exact numerical solution is inaccessible for any condensed matter system.\nA promising approach is to divide the system into a quantum subsystem containing degrees of freedom which are of greater interest or those which have more profound quantum character (e.g., have smaller mass) and a classical bath containing the rest of the system.\nImposing such a partition and treating the bath classically results in quantum-classical dynamics. The quantum-classical Liouville equation is a general equation in the Hilbert space of quantum degrees of freedom while it resides in the phase space of the classical degrees of freedom.\nAny numerical solution to this equation requires representation of the quantum subsystem in some basis. Solutions to this equation have been already proposed in the subsystem, adiabatic and force bases, each with its own cons and pros.\n\nIn this work, the quantum-classical equations of motion are cast in the subsystem basis and subsequently mapped to a number of fictitious harmonic oscillators.\nThe result is quantum-classical dynamics in the mapping basis which treats both quantum and classical degrees of freedom on the same footing, i.e., in phase space. Neglecting a portion of the back reaction of the quantum-subsystem to classical bath results in an expression for the time evolution of an operator (density matrix) equal to its Poisson bracket with the Hamiltonian.\nThis equation can be solved in terms of characteristics to provide a computationally tractable method for calculating quantum-classical dynamical properties. The expressions for expectation values and correlation functions in this formalism are derived.\nCalculations on spin-boson system, barrier crossing models---the so called Tully models---and the Fenna-Mathews-Olson pigments show very good agreement between the results of this method and numerical solutions to the Schrödinger equation.

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Abstract For a system consisting of a quantum and a classical subsystem, an equation of the Liouville type is obtained starting with the density matrix equation. The validity condition and the transformation properties of this quantum-classical equation as well as the application of the adiabatic approximation and the perturbation theory within the frame of this equation are discussed. Some general expressions are obtained for the probability of the transition between the quasi-equilibrium states of the system. Special attention is given to the electron-nuclei system, as the general formalism was developed first of all in order to obtain a foundation for the theoretical analysis of elementary processes in liquids. An example is given to demonstrate that the quantum-classical approach in the range of its validity gives the same result as the corresponding quantum solution. It is also shown that both the cases of weak and strong interaction (leading to the transition) can be described by the quantum-classical equation in question.

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Partial Wigner transforms and the quantum-classical Liouville equation

Christof Schütte

In molecular dynamics applications there is a growing interest in mixed quantum-classical models. The quantum-classical Liouville equation (QCL) describes most atoms of the molecular system under consideration by means of a classical phase space density but an important, small portion of the system by means of quantum mechanics. The QCL is derived from the full quantum dynamical (QD) description by applying the Wigner transform to the \\classical part" of the system only. We discuss the conditions under which the QCL model approximates the full QD evolution of the system. First, analysis of the asymptotic properties of the Wigner transform shows that solving the QCL yields a rst order approximation of full quantum dynamics. Second, we discuss the adiabatic limit of the QCL. This discussion shows that the QCL solutions may be interpretated as classical phase space densities, at least near the adiabatic limit. Third, it is demonstrated that the QCL yields good approximations of non-adia...

•Apr 12, 1999•2 citations
We consider a quantum system that is partitioned into a subsystem and a bath. Starting from the Wigner transform of the von Neumann equation for the quantum-mechanical density matrix of the entire system, the quantum-classical Wigner-Liouville equation is obtained in the limit where the masses M of the bath particles are large as compared with the masses m of the subsystem particles. The structure of this equation is discussed and it is shown how the abstract operator form of the quantum-classical Liouville equation is obtained by taking the inverse Wigner transform on the subsystem. Solutions in terms of classical trajectory segments and quantum transition or momentum jumps are described.
Mixed quantum-classical equations of motion are derived for a quantum subsystem of light (mass m) particles coupled to a classical bath of massive (mass M) particles. The equation of motion follows from a partial Wigner transform over the bath degrees of freedom of the Liouville equation for the full quantum system, followed by an expansion in the small parameter μ=(m/M)1/2 in analogy with the theory of Brownian motion. The resulting mixed quantum-classical Liouville equation accounts for the coupled evolution of the subsystem and bath. The quantum subsystem is represented in an adiabatic (or other) basis and the series solution of the Liouville equation leads to a representation of the dynamics in an ensemble of surface-hopping trajectories. A generalized Pauli master equation for the evolution of the diagonal elements of the density matrix is derived by projection operator methods and its structure is analyzed in terms of surface-hopping trajectories.
An algorithm is presented for the exact solution of the evolution of the density matrix of a mixed quantum-classical system in terms of an ensemble of surface hopping trajectories. The system comprises a quantum subsystem coupled to a classical bath whose evolution is governed by a mixed quantum-classical Liouville equation. The integral solution of the evolution equation is formulated in terms of a concatenation of classical evolution segments for the bath phase space coordinates separated by operators that change the quantum state and bath momenta. A hybrid Molecular Dynamics–Monte Carlo scheme which follows a branching tree of trajectories arising from the action of momentum derivatives is constructed to solve the integral equation. We also consider a simpler scheme where changes in the bath momenta are approximated by momentum jumps. These schemes are illustrated by considering the computation of the evolution of the density matrix for a two-level system coupled to a low dimensional classical bath.
The conditions under which quantum-classical Liouville dynamics may be reduced to a master equation are investigated. Systems that can be partitioned into a quantum-classical subsystem interacting with a classical bath are considered. Starting with an exact non-Markovian equation for the diagonal elements of the density matrix, an evolution equation for the subsystem density matrix is derived. One contribution to this equation contains the bath average of a memory kernel that accounts for all coherences in the system. It is shown to be a rapidly decaying function, motivating a Markovian approximation on this term in the evolution equation. The resulting subsystem density matrix equation is still non-Markovian due to the fact that bath degrees of freedom have been projected out of the dynamics. Provided the computation of nonequilibrium average values or correlation functions is considered, the non-Markovian character of this equation can be removed by lifting the equation into the full phase space of the system. This leads to a trajectory description of the dynamics where each fictitious trajectory accounts for decoherence due to the bath degrees of freedom. The results are illustrated by computations of the rate constant of a model nonadiabatic chemical reaction.
Solving quantum dynamics is an exponentially difficult problem. Thus, an exact numerical solution is inaccessible for any condensed matter system.\nA promising approach is to divide the system into a quantum subsystem containing degrees of freedom which are of greater interest or those which have more profound quantum character (e.g., have smaller mass) and a classical bath containing the rest of the system.\nImposing such a partition and treating the bath classically results in quantum-classical dynamics. The quantum-classical Liouville equation is a general equation in the Hilbert space of quantum degrees of freedom while it resides in the phase space of the classical degrees of freedom.\nAny numerical solution to this equation requires representation of the quantum subsystem in some basis. Solutions to this equation have been already proposed in the subsystem, adiabatic and force bases, each with its own cons and pros.\n\nIn this work, the quantum-classical equations of motion are cast in the subsystem basis and subsequently mapped to a number of fictitious harmonic oscillators.\nThe result is quantum-classical dynamics in the mapping basis which treats both quantum and classical degrees of freedom on the same footing, i.e., in phase space. Neglecting a portion of the back reaction of the quantum-subsystem to classical bath results in an expression for the time evolution of an operator (density matrix) equal to its Poisson bracket with the Hamiltonian.\nThis equation can be solved in terms of characteristics to provide a computationally tractable method for calculating quantum-classical dynamical properties. The expressions for expectation values and correlation functions in this formalism are derived.\nCalculations on spin-boson system, barrier crossing models---the so called Tully models---and the Fenna-Mathews-Olson pigments show very good agreement between the results of this method and numerical solutions to the Schrödinger equation.
Abstract For a system consisting of a quantum and a classical subsystem, an equation of the Liouville type is obtained starting with the density matrix equation. The validity condition and the transformation properties of this quantum-classical equation as well as the application of the adiabatic approximation and the perturbation theory within the frame of this equation are discussed. Some general expressions are obtained for the probability of the transition between the quasi-equilibrium states of the system. Special attention is given to the electron-nuclei system, as the general formalism was developed first of all in order to obtain a foundation for the theoretical analysis of elementary processes in liquids. An example is given to demonstrate that the quantum-classical approach in the range of its validity gives the same result as the corresponding quantum solution. It is also shown that both the cases of weak and strong interaction (leading to the transition) can be described by the quantum-classical equation in question.
In molecular dynamics applications there is a growing interest in mixed quantum-classical models. The quantum-classical Liouville equation (QCL) describes most atoms of the molecular system under consideration by means of a classical phase space density but an important, small portion of the system by means of quantum mechanics. The QCL is derived from the full quantum dynamical (QD) description by applying the Wigner transform to the \\classical part" of the system only. We discuss the conditions under which the QCL model approximates the full QD evolution of the system. First, analysis of the asymptotic properties of the Wigner transform shows that solving the QCL yields a rst order approximation of full quantum dynamics. Second, we discuss the adiabatic limit of the QCL. This discussion shows that the QCL solutions may be interpretated as classical phase space densities, at least near the adiabatic limit. Third, it is demonstrated that the QCL yields good approximations of non-adia...