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arXiv:quant-ph/0409061

Timescales for decoherence and dissipation: reasons for the success of master equations

Marcelo Terra Cunha, S. G. Mokarzel, J. G. Peixoto de Faria, Maria Carolina Nemes

Published Sep 10, 2004• 1 citation
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

A perturbative treatment of reduced density operators of quantum subsystems is implemented in the same spirit as Fermi Golden Rule for scattering. Analytic expressions for linear entropy (a measure of purity loss, and in some cases of coherence loss) and for subsystem's energy variations (dissipation) are given. Application to electromagnetic field superposition states in a dissipative cavity is performed. Evaluation of typical field and reservoir time scales ($τ_{F}$ and $τ_{R}$) show that even for small temperatures they are very different. We also indicate the condition on the cutoff temperature above which the decoupling assumption is quantitatively justified.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.quant-ph/0409061

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A perturbative treatment of reduced density operators of quantum subsystems is implemented in the same spirit as Fermi Golden Rule for scattering. Analytic expressions for linear entropy (a measure of purity loss, and in some cases of coherence loss) and for subsystem's energy variations (dissipation) are given. Application to electromagnetic field superposition states in a dissipative cavity is performed. Evaluation of typical field and reservoir time scales (τFτ_{F}τF​ and τRτ_{R}τR​) show that even for small temperatures they are very different. We also indicate the condition on the cutoff temperature above which the decoupling assumption is quantitatively justified.
We shall revisit the conventional adiabatic or Markov approximation, which — contrary to the semiclassical case– does not preserve the positive-definite character of the corresponding density matrix, thus leading to highly non-physical results. To overcome this serious limitation, originally addressed by Davies and co-workers almost three decades ago, we shall propose an alternative more general adiabatic procedure, able to provide a reliable/robust treatment of energy-dissipation and dephasing processes in electronic quantum devices. Unlike standard master-equation formulations, our procedure guarantees a positive evolution for a variety of physical subsystem (including the common partial trace), and quantum scattering rates are well defined even for subsystems with internal structure/ continuous energy spectrum. We shall compare the proposed Markov dissipation model with the conventional one also through basic simulations of energy-relaxation versus decoherence channels in prototypical semiconductor nanodevices.
We shall revisit the conventional adiabatic or Markov approximation, which --contrary to the semiclassical case-- does not preserve the positive-definite character of the corresponding density matrix, thus leading to highly non-physical results. To overcome this serious limitation, originally pointed out and partially solved by Davies and co-workers almost three decades ago, we shall propose an alternative more general adiabatic procedure, which (i) is physically justified under the same validity restrictions of the conventional Markov approach, (ii) in the semiclassical limit reduces to the standard Fermi's golden rule, and (iii) describes a genuine Lindblad evolution, thus providing a reliable/robust treatment of energy-dissipation and dephasing processes in electronic quantum devices. Unlike standard master-equation formulations, the dependence of our approximation on the specific choice of the subsystem (that include the common partial trace reduction) does not threaten positivity, and quantum scattering rates are well defined even in case the subsystem is infinitely extended/has continuous spectrum.
Abstract This chapter treats dissipation arising from coupling to the environment. Problems treated include photoionization, spontaneous emission, and cavity damping. A short-time perturbative analysis leads to decay of a single state coupled to a continuum at a rate determined by Fermi's golden rule. For longer times a non-perturbative solution of the amplitude equations leads to Weisskopf–Wigner decay. The final value theorem provides a simple method for obtaining the final state spectrum without first solving for the dynamics. A Heisenberg picture analysis leads to operator Langevin equations in which environment operators introduce quantum noise. A parallel analysis is possible working in the Schroedinger picture and leads to a master equation for the density operator of the damped system. This is solved to provide a complete description of the influence of dissipation on the system of interest. It is sometimes simpler to solve directly for the evolution of the field statistics.
We introduce the quantitative measures characterizing the rates of decoherence and thermalization of quantum systems. We study the time evolution of these measures in the case of a quantum harmonic oscillator whose relaxation is described in the framework of the standard master equation, for various initial states (coherent, `cat', squeezed and number). We establish the conditions under which the true decoherence measure can be approximated by the linear entropy 1-Tr 2 . We show that at low temperatures and for highly excited initial states the decoherence process consists of three distinct stages with quite different time scales. In particular, the `cat' states preserve 50% of the initial coherence for a long time interval which increases logarithmically with the increase of the initial energy.
We construct generally applicable small-loss rate expansions for the density operator of an open system. Successive terms of those expansions yield characteristic loss rates for dissipation processes. Three applications are presented in order to give further insight into the context of those expansions. The first application, of a two-level atom coupling to a bosonic environment, shows the procedure and the advantage of the expansion, whereas the second application that consists of a single mode field in a cavity with linewidth $\ensuremath{\kappa}$ due to partial transmission through one mirror illustrates a practical use of those expansions in quantum measurements, and the third one, for an atom coupled to modes of a lossy cavity shows another use of the perturbative expansion.
The time evolution of the purity (the trace of the square of the reduced density matrix) and von Neumann entropy in a symmetric two-level system coupled to a dissipative harmonic bath is investigated through analytical arguments and accurate path integral calculations on simple models and the singly excited bacteriochlorophyll dimer. A simple theoretical analysis establishes bounds and limiting behaviors. The contributions to purity from a purely incoherent term obtained from the diagonal elements of the reduced density matrix, a term associated with the difference of the two eigenstate populations, and a third term related to the square of the time derivative of a site population, are discussed in various regimes. In the case of tunneling dynamics from a localized initial condition, the complex interplay among these contributions leads to the recovery of purity under low-temperature, weakly dissipative conditions. Memory effects from the bath are found to play a critical role to the dynamics of purity. It is shown that the strictly quantum mechanical decoherence process associated with spontaneous phonon emission is responsible for the long-time recovery of purity. These analytical and numerical results show clearly that the loss of quantum coherence during the evolution toward equilibrium does not necessarily imply the decay of purity, and that the time scales relevant to these two processes may be entirely different.