Non-Markovian Quantum Kinetics and Conservation Laws

A link between memory effects in quantum kinetic equations and nonequilibrium correlations associated with the energy conservation is investigated. In order that the energy be conserved by an approximate collision integral, the one-particle distribution function and the mean interaction energy are treated as independent nonequilibrium state parameters. The density operator method is used to derive a kinetic equation in second-order non-Markovian Born approximation and an evolution equation for the nonequilibrium quasi-temperature which is thermodynamically conjugated to the mean interaction energy. The kinetic equation contains a correlation contribution which exactly cancels the collision term in thermal equilibrium and ensures the energy conservation in nonequilibrium states. Explicit expressions for the entropy production in the non-Markovian regime and the time-dependent correlation energy are obtained.     

Kinetic equations in polaron theory for the case of spatial inhomogeneity

Construction of a kinetic equation for a dynamical system interacting with a boson field in the case of spatial inhomogeneity is based on a method expounded in [1–3]. In the present article, it is shown that approaches considered in [1, 2] can be generalized for the case of spatial inhomogeneity. An arbitrary operator function that depends on the momentum and spatial variable is applied for derivation of a kinetic equation. We consider a method of studying an electron-phonon system by means of exclusion of boson operators from corresponding operator equations. In particular, interaction of an electron with a boson field is described by a kinetic equation for a polaron in the case of spatial inhomogeneity. In the relevant limit, a Boltzmann equation for the polaron is obtained.     

Non-Markovian thermalisation of a two-level atom

We consider thermalisation and spontaneous decay of a two-level atom beyond the Markovian approximation. While the standard elimination of the continuum of radiation modes results in exponential decay represented by a Lindblad equation of motion, we use a simple toy model that takes into account the finite relaxation rate of the environment and present an exact non-Markovian master equation of the Nakajima-Zwanzig form. Because the exact derivation of non-Markovian equations has proved very difficult for all more realistic (and hence much more complicated) models, we analyze the master equation obtained and also discuss difficulties that are likely to arise with non-Markovian evolution operators.     

Master equations with memory for systems driven by classical noise

A non-Markovian master equation is obtained for a two level atom driven by a phase noisy laser. The derivation is based on obtaining an equation for the density operator of the system averaged over the previous histories of the external noise. Averaging over the current value of the noise variable by means of the Zwanzig-Nakajima projection operator technique leads to a master equation with memory and a local-in-time master equation. The solutions to the resultant non-Markovian master equation, the structural properties of the equation, and the amenability of the equation to unravelling by the quantum trajectory method are all investigated.     

Nonlinear momentum relaxation of an impurity in a harmonic chain

A microscopic derivation of the generalized Langevin equation for arbitrary powers of the momentum of an impurity in a harmonic chain is presented. As a direct consequence of the Gaussian character of the conditional momentum distribution function, nonlinear momentum coupling effects are absent for this system and the Langevin equation takes on a particularly simple form. The kernels which characterize the decay of higher powers of the impurity momentum depend on the ratio of the masses of the impurity and bath particles, in contrast to the situation for the momentum Langevin equation for this system. The simplicity of the harmonic chain dynamics is exploited in order to investigate several features of the relaxation, such as the factorization approximation for time-dependent correlation functions and the decay of the kinetic energy autocorrelation function.     

Non-Markovian relaxation of atomic systems and a calculation of the shape of spectral lines

A non-Markovian kinetic equation for a system of two identical interacting two-level atoms has been derived. The solution to this equation has been used for calculating the shape of spectral lines of this system.     

Quantum kinetics and thermalization in a particle bath model

We study the dynamics of relaxation and thermalization in an exactly solvable model of a particle interacting with a harmonic oscillator bath. Our goal is to understand the effects of non-Markovian processes on the relaxational dynamics and to compare the exact evolution of the distribution function with approximate Markovian and non-Markovian quantum kinetics. There are two different cases that are studied in detail: (i) a quasiparticle (resonance) when the renormalized frequency of the particle is above the frequency threshold of the bath and (ii) a stable renormalized "particle" state below this threshold. The time evolution of the occupation number for the particle is evaluated exactly using different approaches that yield to complementary insights. The exact solution allows us to investigate the concept of the formation time of a quasiparticle and to study the difference between the relaxation of the distribution of bare particles and that of quasiparticles. For the case of quasiparticles, the exact occupation number asymptotically tends to a statistical equilibrium distribution that differs from a simple Bose-Einstein form as a result of off-shell processes whereas in the stable particle case, the distribution of particles does not thermalize with the bath. We derive a non-Markovian quantum kinetic equation which resums the perturbative series and includes off-shell effects. A Markovian approximation that includes off-shell contributions and the usual Boltzmann equation (energy conserving) are obtained from the quantum kinetic equation in the limit of wide separation of time scales upon different coarse-graining assumptions. The relaxational dynamics predicted by the non-Markovian, Markovian, and Boltzmann approximations are compared to the exact result. The Boltzmann approach is seen to fail in the case of wide resonances and when threshold and renormalization effects are important.     

Stratified quantization approach to dissipative quantum systems: Derivation of the Hamiltonian and kinetic equations for reduced density matrices

A technique for describing dissipative quantum systems that utilizes a fundamental Hamiltonian, which is composed of intrinsic operators of the system, is presented. The specific system considered is a capacitor (or free particle) that is coupled to a resistor (or dissipative medium). The microscopic mechanisms that lead to dissipation are represented by the standard Hamiltonian. Now dissipation is really a collective phenomenon of entities that comprise a macroscopic or mesoscopic object. Hence operators that describe the collective features of the dissipative medium are utilized to construct the Hamiltonian that represents the coupled resistor and capacitor. Quantization of the spatial gauge function is introduced. The magnetic energy part of the coupled Hamiltonian is written in terms of that quantized gauge function and the current density of the dissipative medium. A detailed derivation of the kinetic equation that represents the capacitor or free particle is presented. The partial spectral densities and functions related to spectral densities, which enter the kinetic equations as coefficients of commutators, are evaluated. Explicit expressions for the nonMarkoffian contribution in terms of products of spectral densities and related functions are given. The influence of all two-time correlation functions are considered. Also stated is a remainder term that is a product of partial spectral densities and which is due to higher order terms in the correlation density matrix. The Markoffian part of the kinetic equation is compared with the Master equation that is obtained using the standard generator in the axiomatic approach. A detailed derivation of the Master equation that represents the dissipative medium is also presented. The dynamical equation for the resistor depends on the spatial wavevector, and the influence of the free particle on the diagonal elements (in wavevector space) is stated.     

Dissipative dynamics for hard spheres

The dynamics for a system of hard spheres with dissipative collisions is described at the levels of statistical mechanics, kinetic theory, and simulation. The Liouville operator(s) and associated binary scattering operators are defined as the generators for time evolution in phase space. The BBGKY hierarchy for reduced distribution functions is given, and an approximate kinetic equation is obtained that extends the revised Enskog theory to dissipative dynamics. A Monte Carlo simulation method to solve this equation is described, extending the Bird method to the dense, dissipative hard-sphere system. A practical kinetic model for theoretical analysis of this equation also is proposed. As an illustration of these results, the kinetic theory and the Monte Carlo simulations are applied to the homogeneous cooling state of rapid granular flow.     

On the extension of the Boltzmann equation to include pair correlations

The derivation of kinetic equations, including the effects of pair correlations, for a gas of particles interacting via purely repulsive forces is reported. An additional assumption on the form of the two-particle distribution function yields the Enskog equation for a dense hard-sphere gas. However, the true two-particle distribution function is not of this form.     

Kinetic description of vacuum creation of massive vector bosons

In the simple model of massive vector field in a flat spacetime, we derive the kinetic equation of non-Markovian type describing the vacuum pair creation under action of external fields of different nature. We use for this aim the nonperturbative methods of kinetic theory in combination with a new element when the transition of the instantaneous quasiparticle representation is realized within the oscillator (holomorphic) representation. We study in detail the process of vacuum creation of vector bosons generated by a time-dependent boson mass in accordance with the framework of a conformal-invariant scalar-tensor gravitational theory and its cosmological application. It is indicated that the choice of the equation of state allows one to obtain a number density of vector bosons that is sufficient to explain the observed number density of photons in the cosmic microwave background radiation.     

Solving non-Markovian open quantum systems with multi-channel reservoir coupling

We extend the non-Markovian quantum state diffusion (QSD) equation to open quantum systems which exhibit multi-channel coupling to a harmonic oscillator reservoir. Open quantum systems which have multi-channel reservoir coupling are those in which canonical transformation of reservoir modes cannot reduce the number of reservoir operators appearing in the interaction Hamiltonian to one. We show that the non-Markovian QSD equation for multi-channel reservoir coupling can, in some cases, lead to an exact master equation which we derive. We then derive the exact master equation for the three-level system in a vee-type configuration which has multi-channel reservoir coupling and give the analytical solution. Finally, we examine the evolution of the three-level vee-type system with generalized Ornstein–Uhlenbeck reservoir correlations numerically.     

Plasma production and thermalisation in a strong field

Aspects of the formation and equilibration of a quark–gluon plasma are explored using a quantum kinetic equation, which involves a non-Markovian, Abelian source term for quark and antiquark production and, for the collision term, a relaxation time approximation that defines a time-dependent quasi-equilibrium temperature and collective velocity. The strong Abelian field is determined via the simultaneous solution of Maxwell's equation. A particular feature of this approach is the appearance of plasma oscillations in all thermodynamic observables. Their presence can lead to a sharp increase in the time-integrated dilepton yield, although a rapid expansion of the plasma may eliminate this signal. Received: 27 July 2001 / Published online: 21 November 2001     

Fokker-Planck equation for interacting waves: Dispersion law renormalization and wave turbulence

The multiple timescale method for removing secularities is used to generate the Fokker-Planck (“FP”) equation for a system of interacting waves. This FP equation describes diffusion in the phase space of the angle, as well as the action, variables of all underlying modes. The first moment of the FP equation gives a kinetic (or Boltzmann-type) equation governing the averaged actions, and describing the diffusion of action in time. Angle diffusion leads to a renormalization of the dispersion law. Stationary solutions for the average action (or so-called spectral intensity) are derived for equilibrium and for the driven off-equilibrium state corresponding to a cascade of wave energy from low to high frequencies (wave turbulence). The reduced distribution function for these states is derived.The derivation of the FP equation from the Liouville equation, as well as the derivation of the kinetic equation from the FP equation, requires that the distribution of modes be sufficiently dense. In this limit, cumulants that are initially zero increase at a rate that is thermodynamically sm all. A Langevin equation, governing the evolution of a distinguished oscillator, that is applicable even in off-equilibrium conditions, is derived. The concept of winding numbers is extended to the general phase space motion of action-angle variables through the introduction of a multiple-valued probability density.     

Kinetic Theory of Area-Preserving Maps. Application to the Standard Map in the Diffusive Regime

The evolution of the distribution function of a dynamical system governed by a general two-dimensional area-preserving iterative map is studied by the methods of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. A closed, non-Markovian master equation determines the angle-averaged distribution function (the density profile). The complementary, angle-dependent part (the fluctuations) is expressed as a non-Markovian functional of the density profile. Whenever there exist two widely separated intrinsic time scales, the master equation can be markovianized, yielding an asymptotic kinetic equation. The general theory is applied to the standard map in the diffusive regime, i.e., for large stochasticity parameter and large scale length. The non-Markovian master equation can be written and solved analytically in this approximation. The two characteristic time scales are exhibited. This permits the thorough study of the evolution of the density profile, its tendency toward the Markovian approximation, and eventually toward a diffusive Gaussian packet. The evolution of the fluctuations is also described in detail. The various relaxation processes are governed asymptotically by a single diffusion coefficient, which is calculated analytically. This model appears as a testing bench for the study of kinetic equations. The various previous approaches to this problem are reviewed and critically discussed.     

Solvable real space renormalization group for the kinetic Ising chain

A real-space renormalization group for the one-dimensional kinetic Ising model is established. The parameter space of the model must be enlarged to include non-Markovian kernels in the equation of motion. The recursion relations for these kernels can be iterated analytically so that the global flow under the renormalization group can be traced exactly. The resulting fixed-point equation is non-Markovian.     

The influence of a varying field on the non-Markovian migration of particles

The influence of an external varying field on the non-Markovian migration of particles described in the continuous-time random walk model (CTRWM) was analyzed theoretically. In terms of the Markovian representation for the CTRWM suggested earlier, a rigorous method for describing the influence of an external force was developed. This method reduced the problem to solving the non-Markovian stochastic Liouville equation (SLE) for the particle distribution function. An analysis of the derived SLE and its comparison with the earlier equations were performed. The method was used to study the characteristic features of the time dependence of the first and second moments of the distribution function for particles involved in subdiffusion motion in a uniform varying external field. Both oscillating and fluctuating fields were considered. In both cases, anomalously strong field effects on the second particle distribution moment (variance) were observed. This influence was especially strong for a fluctuating field, and in the limit of anomalously slow fluctuations at that.     

Method of green's functions in the theory of quantum kinetic equations. II

The kinetic and antikinetic equations are obtained for the single-particle Wigner function in the context of the method of Green's time-temperature functions for an inhomogeneous system of weakly interacting particles situated in a time-dependent electric field. The kinetic equation is derived here from the equation of motion for Green's function, satisfying the causality condition.     

Non-markovian properties of dielectric relaxation in liquids

Statistical molecular memory is investigated in dielectric relaxation in a liquid medium. A new method of closing the infinite chain of kinetic equations for the time correlation function is proposed, and used to obtain an equation permitting the calculation of the smallest-order memory functions. The spectrum of the non-Markovian parameter obtained indicates that dielectric relaxation in liquid CH₃I is a significantly non-Markovian process.Kazan' State Pedagogical Institute. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 10, pp. 27–31, October, 1995.