Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:cond-mat/0308144

Quantum master equation for a system influencing its environment (letter version)

Massimiliano Esposito, Pierre Gaspard

Published Aug 7, 2003• 2 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We derive a new perturbative quantum master equation for the reduced density matrix of a system interacting with an environment (with a dense spectrum of energy levels). The total system energy (system plus environment) is constant and finite. This equation takes into account the finite energy effects of the environment due to the total energy conservation. This equation is more general than the common perturbative equations used for describing a system in interaction with an environment (like the Redfield equation or the Cohen-Tannoudji one) because these last equations can be deduced from it in the limit of an infinitely large environment. We apply numerically this equation to the spin-GORM model. This model represents the interaction of a two-level system with an environment described by random matrices. We compare our equation with the exact von Neumann equation of the total system and show its superiority compared to the Redfield equation (in the Markovian and non-Markovian cases).

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/0308144

Related papers

Quantum master equation for a system influencing its environment

Massimiliano Esposito, Pierre Gaspard

A perturbative quantum master equation is derived for a system interacting with its environment, which is more general than the ones derived before. Our master equation takes into account the effect of the energy exchanges between the system and the environment and the conservation of energy in the finite total system. This master equation describes relaxation mechanisms in isolated nanoscopic quantum systems. In its most general form, this equation is non-Markovian and a Markovian version of it rules the long-time relaxation. We show that our equation reduces to the Redfield equation in the limit where the energy of the system does not affect the density of state of its environment. This master equation and the Redfield one are applied to a spin-environment model defined in terms of random matrices and compared with the solutions of the exact von Neumann equation. The comparison proves the necessity to allow energy exchange between the subsystem and the environment in order to correctly describe the relaxation in an isolated nanoscopic total system.

arXiv:cond-mat/0306433•Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics•Dec 24, 2003•77 citations

Dissipative quantum dynamics in terms of a reduced density matrix distributed over the environment energy

Massimiliano Esposito, Pierre Gaspard

A new perturbative quantum master equation is presented for the dissipative dynamics of a subsystem inside a nanosystem with a constant and finite total energy. The degrees of freedom besides those of the subsystem play the role of the environment. Our equation rules the time evolution of the distribution functions of the subsystem populations and coherences over the energy of the environment. Thanks to these distribution functions, we can take into account the effects of the conservation of the total energy. This equation is more general than the standard perturbative equations used for describing a subsystem interacting with an environment (such as the Redfield or Cohen-Tannoudji equations) because these latter equations can be deduced from it in the limit of an infinitely large environment. We numerically apply this equation to the spin-GORM model for the interaction of a two-level subsystem with an environment described by random matrices. We compare our equation with the exact von Neumann equation of the total system and show its superiority compared to the Redfield equation (in the Markovian and non-Markovian cases).

Europhysics Letters (EPL)•Mar 1, 2004•6 citations

Quantum master equation for the microcanonical ensemble

Massimiliano Esposito, Pierre Gaspard

By using projection superoperators, we present a new derivation of the quantum master equation first obtained by the authors in Phys. Rev. E 68, 066112 (2003). We show that this equation describes the dynamics of a subsystem weakly interacting with an environment of finite heat capacity and initially described by a microcanonical distribution. After applying the rotating wave approximation to the equation, we show that the subsystem dynamics preserves the energy of the total system (subsystem plus environment) and tends towards an equilibrium state which corresponds to equipartition inside the energy shell of the total system. For infinite heat capacity environments, this equation reduces to the Redfield master equation for a subsystem interacting with a thermostat. These results should be of particular interest to describe relaxation and decoherence in nanosystems where the environment can have a finite number of degrees of freedom and the equivalence between the microcanonical and the canonical ensembles is thus not always guaranteed.

arXiv:cond-mat/0612251•Physical Review E•Oct 25, 2007•27 citations

Exact Non-Markovian Master Equations: A Generalized Derivation for Gaussian Systems

Antonio D’Abbruzzo, Vittorio Giovannetti, Vasco Cavina

We derive an exact master equation that captures the dynamics of a quadratic quantum system linearly coupled to a Gaussian environment of the same statistics: the Gaussian master equation (GME). Unlike previous approaches, our formulation applies universally to both bosonic and fermionic setups, and remains valid even in the presence of initial system-environment correlations, allowing for the exact computation of the system's reduced density matrix across all parameter regimes. Remarkably, the GME shares the same operatorial structure as the Redfield equation and depends on a single kernel: a dressed environment correlation function accounting for all virtual interactions between the system and the environment. This simple structure grants a clear physical interpretation and makes the GME easy to simulate numerically, as we show by applying it to an open system based on two fermions coupled via superconductive pairing.

arXiv:2502.14364•Physical Review Letters•Nov 12, 2025•3 citations

Dynamics of open quantum spin systems: An assessment of the quantum master equation approach

Pei-Liang Zhao, Hans A. De Raedt, Seiji Miyashita +2 more

Data of the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation of a system containing one spin-1/2 particle interacting with a bath of up to 32 spin-1/2 particles is used to construct a Markovian quantum master equation describing the dynamics of the system spin. The procedure of obtaining this quantum master equation, which takes the form of a Bloch equation with time-independent coefficients, accounts for all non-Markovian effects inasmuch the general structure of the quantum master equation allows. Our simulation results show that, with a few rather exotic exceptions, the Bloch-type equation with time-independent coefficients provides a simple and accurate description of the dynamics of a spin-1/2 particle in contact with a thermal bath. A calculation of the coefficients that appear in the Redfield master equation in the Markovian limit shows that this perturbatively derived equation quantitatively differs from the numerically estimated Markovian master equation, the results of which agree very well with the solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation.

arXiv:1605.06609•Physical review. E•Aug 19, 2016•16 citations

Recovering an accurate Lindblad equation from the Bloch-Redfield equation for general open quantum systems

Diego Fernández de la Pradilla, Esteban Moreno, Johannes Feist

Master equations play a pivotal role in investigating open quantum systems. In particular, the Bloch-Redfield equation stands out due to its relation to a concrete physical environment. However, without further approximations it does not lead to a Lindblad master equation that guarantees that the density matrix stays completely positive, which has raised some concerns regarding its use. This study builds on previous efforts to transform the Bloch-Redfield framework into a mathematically robust Lindblad equation while fully preserving the effects that are lost within the secular approximation that is commonly used to guarantee positivity. These previous approaches introduced two potential deficiencies: The environment-induced energy shift can be non-Hermitian and some decay rates can be negative, violating the assumptions of Lindblad's theorem. Here we propose and evaluate straightforward solutions to both problems. Our approach offers an effective and general procedure for obtaining a Lindblad equation, derived from a concrete physical environment, while mitigating the unphysical dynamics present in the Bloch-Redfield equation.

arXiv:2402.06354•Physical Review A•Jun 24, 2024•15 citations
We derive a new perturbative quantum master equation for the reduced density matrix of a system interacting with an environment (with a dense spectrum of energy levels). The total system energy (system plus environment) is constant and finite. This equation takes into account the finite energy effects of the environment due to the total energy conservation. This equation is more general than the common perturbative equations used for describing a system in interaction with an environment (like the Redfield equation or the Cohen-Tannoudji one) because these last equations can be deduced from it in the limit of an infinitely large environment. We apply numerically this equation to the spin-GORM model. This model represents the interaction of a two-level system with an environment described by random matrices. We compare our equation with the exact von Neumann equation of the total system and show its superiority compared to the Redfield equation (in the Markovian and non-Markovian cases).
A perturbative quantum master equation is derived for a system interacting with its environment, which is more general than the ones derived before. Our master equation takes into account the effect of the energy exchanges between the system and the environment and the conservation of energy in the finite total system. This master equation describes relaxation mechanisms in isolated nanoscopic quantum systems. In its most general form, this equation is non-Markovian and a Markovian version of it rules the long-time relaxation. We show that our equation reduces to the Redfield equation in the limit where the energy of the system does not affect the density of state of its environment. This master equation and the Redfield one are applied to a spin-environment model defined in terms of random matrices and compared with the solutions of the exact von Neumann equation. The comparison proves the necessity to allow energy exchange between the subsystem and the environment in order to correctly describe the relaxation in an isolated nanoscopic total system.
A new perturbative quantum master equation is presented for the dissipative dynamics of a subsystem inside a nanosystem with a constant and finite total energy. The degrees of freedom besides those of the subsystem play the role of the environment. Our equation rules the time evolution of the distribution functions of the subsystem populations and coherences over the energy of the environment. Thanks to these distribution functions, we can take into account the effects of the conservation of the total energy. This equation is more general than the standard perturbative equations used for describing a subsystem interacting with an environment (such as the Redfield or Cohen-Tannoudji equations) because these latter equations can be deduced from it in the limit of an infinitely large environment. We numerically apply this equation to the spin-GORM model for the interaction of a two-level subsystem with an environment described by random matrices. We compare our equation with the exact von Neumann equation of the total system and show its superiority compared to the Redfield equation (in the Markovian and non-Markovian cases).
By using projection superoperators, we present a new derivation of the quantum master equation first obtained by the authors in Phys. Rev. E 68, 066112 (2003). We show that this equation describes the dynamics of a subsystem weakly interacting with an environment of finite heat capacity and initially described by a microcanonical distribution. After applying the rotating wave approximation to the equation, we show that the subsystem dynamics preserves the energy of the total system (subsystem plus environment) and tends towards an equilibrium state which corresponds to equipartition inside the energy shell of the total system. For infinite heat capacity environments, this equation reduces to the Redfield master equation for a subsystem interacting with a thermostat. These results should be of particular interest to describe relaxation and decoherence in nanosystems where the environment can have a finite number of degrees of freedom and the equivalence between the microcanonical and the canonical ensembles is thus not always guaranteed.
We derive an exact master equation that captures the dynamics of a quadratic quantum system linearly coupled to a Gaussian environment of the same statistics: the Gaussian master equation (GME). Unlike previous approaches, our formulation applies universally to both bosonic and fermionic setups, and remains valid even in the presence of initial system-environment correlations, allowing for the exact computation of the system's reduced density matrix across all parameter regimes. Remarkably, the GME shares the same operatorial structure as the Redfield equation and depends on a single kernel: a dressed environment correlation function accounting for all virtual interactions between the system and the environment. This simple structure grants a clear physical interpretation and makes the GME easy to simulate numerically, as we show by applying it to an open system based on two fermions coupled via superconductive pairing.
Data of the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation of a system containing one spin-1/2 particle interacting with a bath of up to 32 spin-1/2 particles is used to construct a Markovian quantum master equation describing the dynamics of the system spin. The procedure of obtaining this quantum master equation, which takes the form of a Bloch equation with time-independent coefficients, accounts for all non-Markovian effects inasmuch the general structure of the quantum master equation allows. Our simulation results show that, with a few rather exotic exceptions, the Bloch-type equation with time-independent coefficients provides a simple and accurate description of the dynamics of a spin-1/2 particle in contact with a thermal bath. A calculation of the coefficients that appear in the Redfield master equation in the Markovian limit shows that this perturbatively derived equation quantitatively differs from the numerically estimated Markovian master equation, the results of which agree very well with the solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation.
Master equations play a pivotal role in investigating open quantum systems. In particular, the Bloch-Redfield equation stands out due to its relation to a concrete physical environment. However, without further approximations it does not lead to a Lindblad master equation that guarantees that the density matrix stays completely positive, which has raised some concerns regarding its use. This study builds on previous efforts to transform the Bloch-Redfield framework into a mathematically robust Lindblad equation while fully preserving the effects that are lost within the secular approximation that is commonly used to guarantee positivity. These previous approaches introduced two potential deficiencies: The environment-induced energy shift can be non-Hermitian and some decay rates can be negative, violating the assumptions of Lindblad's theorem. Here we propose and evaluate straightforward solutions to both problems. Our approach offers an effective and general procedure for obtaining a Lindblad equation, derived from a concrete physical environment, while mitigating the unphysical dynamics present in the Bloch-Redfield equation.