Oscillations and fluctuations in a dissipative spin system

A dissipative spin system, which is also considered to be a model for optical fluorescence, is investigated from the viewpoint of Brownian motion of spins. The most probable path and the fluctuations are determined by the quantum mechanical version of the system size expansion method. For the most probable path, the flow lines as well as the time evolutions are obtained exactly. This system exhibits a sort of nonequilibrium phase transition as the strength of an external field exceeds the dissipation. The fluctuations show unusual behaviour associated with the Volterra-like oscillations above threshold.