Decay of correlations in spin systems

We investigate the decay of initial correlations in a spin system where each spin relaxes independently by an intramolecular mechanism. The equation of motion for the spin density matrix is assumed to be the Redfield equation, which is of the form of a quantum mechanical master equation. Our analysis of this problem is based on the techniques of Shuler, Oppenheim, and coworkers, who have studied the decay of correlations in systems which can be described by classical stochastic master equations. We find that the off-diagonal elements of the reduced spin density matrices approach their equilibrium values faster than the diagonal elements. The Ursell functions, which are a measure of the correlations in the system, decay to their zero equilibrium values faster than the spin density matrix except for the furthest off-diagonal elements. Far off-diagonal matrix elements of the spin density matrix approach equilibrium at the same rate as the Ursell functions, which is the important difference between the quantum mechanical model studied here and the classical models studied earlier.Supported in part by the National Science Foundation.