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arXiv:chao-dyn/9609018 · Physical Review A

Mixed quantum-classical versus full quantum dynamics: Coupled quasiparticle-oscillator system

Holger Schanz, Bernd Esser

Published May 1, 1997• 30 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The relation between the dynamical properties of a coupled quasiparticle-oscillator system in the mixed quantum-classical and fully quantized descriptions is investigated. The system is considered as a model for applying a stepwise quantization. Features of the nonlinear dynamics in the mixed description such as the presence of a separatrix structure or regular and chaotic motion are shown to be reflected in the evolu- tion of the quantum state vector of the fully quantized system. In particular, it is demonstrated how wave packets propagate along the separatrix structure of the mixed description, and that chaotic dynamics leads to a strongly entangled quantum state vector. Special emphasis is given to viewing the system from a dyn- amical Born-Oppenheimer approximation defining integrable reference oscillators, and elucidating the role of the nonadiabatic couplings which complement this approximation into a rigorous quantization scheme.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.55.3375

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The relation between the dynamical properties of a coupled quasiparticle-oscillator system in the mixed quantum-classical and fully quantized descriptions is investigated. The system is considered as a model for applying a stepwise quantization. Features of the nonlinear dynamics in the mixed description such as the presence of a separatrix structure or regular and chaotic motion are shown to be reflected in the evolu- tion of the quantum state vector of the fully quantized system. In particular, it is demonstrated how wave packets propagate along the separatrix structure of the mixed description, and that chaotic dynamics leads to a strongly entangled quantum state vector. Special emphasis is given to viewing the system from a dyn- amical Born-Oppenheimer approximation defining integrable reference oscillators, and elucidating the role of the nonadiabatic couplings which complement this approximation into a rigorous quantization scheme.
Statistical and dynamical properties of a quasiparticle coupled to polarization vibrations in a dimer model are investigated using a full quantum-mechanical approach. The propagation of the system is described in terms of spin-boson coherent states and compared to various quasiclassical descriptions of the system. The spectrum of the energy eigenvalues and the level spacing distributions of the system are calculated and turn out to be almost regular, especially in the strong coupling limit. It is demonstrated that the usual quasiclassical approach to this problem is not quite satisfactory. This is because the quantum fluctuations in the spin variable give rise to entangled states and correlations which hence should be included in a quasiclassical description. We show that a limited but satisfactory quasiclassical approximation may be given using a suitable integrable reference Hamiltonian.
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Abstract We consider the interaction dynamics of a classical oscillator and a quantum two-level system for different pure-dephasing Hamiltonians of the type H ˆ ( q , p ) = H C ( q , p ) 1 + H I ( q , p ) σ ˆ z . This type of systems represents a severe challenge for popular hybrid quantum–classical descriptions. For example, in the case of the common Ehrenfest model, the classical density evolution is shown to decouple entirely from the pure-dephasing quantum dynamics. We focus on a recently proposed hybrid wave equation that is based on Koopman’s wavefunction description of classical mechanics. This model retains quantum–classical correlations whenever a coupling potential is present. Here, several benchmark problems are considered and the results are compared with those arising from fully quantum dynamics. A good agreement is found for a series of study cases involving harmonic oscillators with linear and quadratic coupling, as well as time-varying coupling parameters. In all these cases the classical evolution coincides exactly with the oscillator dynamics resulting from the fully quantum description. In the special case of time-independent coupling involving a classical oscillator with varying frequency, the quantum Bloch rotation exhibits peculiar features that escape from the hybrid description. In addition, nonlinear corrections to the harmonic Hamiltonian lead to an overall growth of decoherence at long times, which is absent in the fully quantum treatment.
The dynamics of two coupled oscillators can become quite complex if anharmonic potential energy functions are employed. This type of system therefore represents a good model for an investigation of the performance of mixed quantum-classical methods. In this work, the motion of two coupled particles with a mass ratio of one to ten is studied with three different mixed quantum-classical methods in the presence of anharmonic potential terms for a comparison with exact quantum mechanical calculations. The mixed quantum-classical approaches include the multitrajectory Ehrenfest, the mixed quantum-classical Bohmian (MQCB), and the so-called coupled Schrödinger equations (CSE) formalisms. The analysis shows that while the description of a weakly anharmonic system by the Ehrenfest and MQCB schemes is accurate if proper sampling techniques are applied, both approximations break down rapidly if the anharmonic terms are increased. The performance of the simple CSE prescription, which corresponds to a reduction of the full two-dimensional wave function to two one-dimensional wave functions representing two quantum oscillators coupled via the potential energy in a classical fashion, decreases if the width of the initial wave packet is enlarged. The dependence of the CSE method on the diffuseness of the initial wave packet is therefore opposite to that of the MQCB method, which is more accurate for wide wave packets. Overall, the multitrajectory Ehrenfest ansatz is found to be most successful in reproducing the exact quantum results.
The effect of nonadiabatic coupling due to breakdown of the Born-Oppenheimer approximation on chaos is investigated. A couple of measures (indicators) that detect the extent of chaos in wave-packet dynamics on coupled potential functions are devised. Using them, we show that chaos is indeed induced by a nonadiabatic coupling in individual time-dependent wave-packet dynamics. This chaos is genuinely of quantum nature, since it arises from bifurcation and merging of a wave packet at the quasicrossing region of two coupled potential functions.
Considering classical environment to be a classical oscillator, we describe the dynamics of a system consisting of a quantum oscillator coupled to classical oscillator. Using the Born-Oppenheimer approximation and the method of adiabatic invariants, we derive the classically effective Hamiltonian describing the complete dynamics of the system and the wavefunction of quantum part of the system. We also present a new method for investigating the dynamics of the quantum system in classical environment.