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arXiv:math-ph/0306011 · Canadian Journal of Mathematics

The Ground State Problem for a Quantum Hamiltonian Model Describing Friction

Laurent Bruneau

Published Oct 1, 2007• 6 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, we consider the quantum version of a Hamiltonian model describing friction. This model consists of a particle which interacts with a bosonic reservoir representing a homogeneous medium through which the particle moves. We show that if the particle is confined, then the Hamiltonian admits a ground state if and only if a suitable infrared condition is satisfied. The latter is violated in the case of linear friction, but satisfied when the friction force is proportional to a higher power of the particle speed.

DOI
10.4153/cjm-2007-038-3

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Abstract In this paper, we consider the quantum version of a Hamiltonian model describing friction. This model consists of a particle which interacts with a bosonic reservoir representing a homogeneous medium through which the particle moves. We show that if the particle is confined, then the Hamiltonian admits a ground state if and only if a suitable infrared condition is satisfied. The latter is violated in the case of linear friction, but satisfied when the friction force is proportional to a higher power of the particle speed.
In this Note, we consider the quantum version of a Hamiltonian model describing friction. This model consists of a particle which interacts with a bosonic reservoir representing a homogeneous medium through which the particle moves. We show that if the particle is confined, then the Hamiltonian admits a ground state if and only if a suitable infrared condition is satisfied. The latter is violated in the case of linear friction, but satisfied when the friction force is proportional to a higher power of the particle speed.
The quantum motion of nuclei, generally ignored in the physics of sliding friction, can affect in an important manner the frictional dissipation of a light particle forced to slide in an optical lattice. The density matrix-calculated evolution of the quantum version of the basic Prandtl-Tomlinson model, describing the dragging by an external force of a point particle in a periodic potential, shows that purely classical friction predictions can be very wrong. The strongest quantum effect occurs not for weak but for strong periodic potentials, where barriers are high but energy levels in each well are discrete, and resonant Rabi or Landau-Zener tunneling to states in the nearest well can preempt classical stick-slip with nonnegligible efficiency, depending on the forcing speed. The resulting permeation of otherwise unsurmountable barriers is predicted to cause quantum lubricity, a phenomenon which we expect should be observable in the recently implemented sliding cold ion experiments.
The damped harmonic oscillator is used to represent the damping processes in nature. Therefore it is necessary to find the Hamiltonian for the damped oscillator. The Hamiltonian is developed for the harmonic oscillator with frictional force proportional to velocity. The solution of the Schr\"odinger equation gives nonstationary states. The quantum friction coefficient is derived to be zero for massless particles. It is thought that velocity-dependent forces exist near the nucleus and therefore, the scattering amplitude for the deep inelastic process is derived.
Similarity of equations of motion for the classical and quantum trajectories is used to introduce a friction term dependent on the wavefunction phase into the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. The term describes irreversible energy loss by the quantum system. The force of friction is proportional to the velocity of a quantum trajectory. The resulting Schrödinger equation is nonlinear, conserves wavefunction normalization, and evolves an arbitrary wavefunction into the ground state of the system (of appropriate symmetry if applicable). Decrease in energy is proportional to the average kinetic energy of the quantum trajectory ensemble. Dynamics in the high friction regime is suitable for simple models of reactions proceeding with energy transfer from the system to the environment. Examples of dynamics are given for single and symmetric and asymmetric double well potentials.
Mathematical results on a model describing the motion of a tracer particle through a non-interacting Bose-Einstein condensate are described. In the limit of a very dense gas and for a very large particle mass, the dynamics of the coupled system is determined by classical nonlinear Hamiltonian equations of motion. The particle's motion exhibits deceleration corresponding to friction with memory caused by the emission of Cerenkov radiation of gapless modes into the gas. A more general class of models involving interacting Bose gases will be studied in forthcoming papers.