Bassano Vacchini

Completely positive quantum dissipation

A completely positive master equation describing quantum dissipation for a Brownian particle is derived starting from microphysical collisions, exploiting a recently introduced approach to subdynamics of a macrosystem. The obtained equation can be cast into Lindblad form with a single generator for each Cartesian direction. Temperature dependent friction and diffusion coefficients for both position and momentum are expressed in terms of the collision cross section.

Markovianity and non-Markovianity in quantum and classical systems

We discuss the conceptually different definitions used for the non-Markovianity of classical and quantum processes. The well-established definition of non-Markovianity of a classical stochastic process represents a condition on the Kolmogorov hierarchy of the n-point joint probability distributions. Since this definition cannot be transferred to the quantum regime, quantum non-Markovianity has recently been defined and quantified in terms of the underlying quantum dynamical map, using either its divisibility properties or the behavior of the trace distance between pairs of initial states. Here, we investigate and compare these definitions and their relations to the classical notion of non-Markovianity by employing a large class of non-Markovian processes, known as semi-Markov processes, which admit a natural extension to the quantum case. A number of specific physical examples are constructed that allow us to study the basic features of the classical and the quantum definitions and to evaluate explicitly the measures of quantum non-Markovianity. Our results clearly demonstrate several fundamental differences between the classical and the quantum notion of non-Markovianity, as well as between the various quantum measures of non-Markovianity. In particular, we show that the divisibility property in the classical case does not coincide with Markovianity and that the non-Markovianity measure based on divisibility assigns equal infinite values to different dynamics, which can be distinguished by exploiting the trace distance measure. A simple exact expression for the latter is also obtained in a special case.

Quantum linear Boltzmann equation

Abstract We review the quantum version of the linear Boltzmann equation, which describes in a non-perturbative fashion, by means of scattering theory, how the quantum motion of a single test particle is affected by collisions with an ideal background gas. A heuristic derivation of this Lindblad master equation is presented, based on the requirement of translation–covariance and on the relation to the classical linear Boltzmann equation. After analyzing its general symmetry properties and the associated relaxation dynamics, we discuss a quantum Monte Carlo method for its numerical solution. We then review important limiting forms of the quantum linear Boltzmann equation, such as the case of quantum Brownian motion and pure collisional decoherence, as well as the application to matter wave optics. Finally, we point to the incorporation of quantum degeneracies and self-interactions in the gas by relating the equation to the dynamic structure factor of the ambient medium, and we provide an extension of the equation to include internal degrees of freedom.

Quantum Semi-Markov Processes

We construct a large class of non-Markovian master equations that describe the dynamics of open quantum systems featuring strong memory effects, which relies on a quantum generalization of the concept of classical semi-Markov processes. General conditions for the complete positivity of the corresponding quantum dynamical maps are formulated. The resulting non-Markovian quantum processes allow the treatment of a variety of physical systems, as is illustrated by means of various examples and applications, including quantum optical systems and models of quantum transport.

Exact master equations for the non-Markovian decay of a qubit

Exact master equations describing the decay of a two-state system into a structured reservoir are constructed. By employing the exact solution for the model, analytical expressions are determined for the memory kernel of the Nakajima-Zwanzig master equation and for the generator of the corresponding time-convolutionless master equation. This approach allows an explicit comparison of the convergence behavior of the corresponding perturbation expansions. Moreover, the structure of widely used phenomenological master equations with a memory kernel may be incompatible with a nonperturbative treatment of the underlying microscopic model. Several physical implications of the results on the microscopic analysis and the phenomenological modeling of non-Markovian quantum dynamics of open systems are discussed.

On the energy increase in space-collapse models

A typical feature of spontaneous collapse models which aim at localizing wavefunctions in space is the violation of the principle of energy conservation. In the models proposed in the literature, the stochastic field which is responsible for the localization mechanism causes the momentum to behave like a Brownian motion, whose larger and larger fluctuations show up as a steady increase of the energy of the system. In spite of the fact that, in all situations, such an increase is small and practically undetectable, it is an undesirable feature that the energy of physical systems is not conserved but increases constantly in time, diverging for t → ∞. In this paper, we show that this property of collapse models can be modified:. we propose a model of spontaneous wavefunction collapse sharing all most important features of usual models but such that the energy of isolated systems reaches an asymptotic finite value instead of increasing with a steady rate.

Communication: Universal Markovian reduction of Brownian particle dynamics

Non-Markovian processes can often be turned Markovian by enlarging the set of variables. Here we show, by an explicit construction, how this can be done for the dynamics of a Brownian particle obeying the generalized Langevin equation. Given an arbitrary bath spectral density J(0), we introduce an orthogonal transformation of the bath variables into effective modes, leading stepwise to a semi-infinite chain with nearest-neighbor interactions. The transformation is uniquely determined by J(0) and defines a sequence {J(n)}(n∈N) of residual spectral densities describing the interaction of the terminal chain mode, at each step, with the remaining bath. We derive a simple one-term recurrence relation for this sequence and show that its limit is the quasi-Ohmic expression provided by the Rubin model of dissipation. Numerical calculations show that, irrespective of the details of J(0), convergence is fast enough to be useful in practice for an effective Ohmic reduction of the dissipative dynamics.

Theory of Decoherence due to Scattering Events and Levy Processes

A general connection between the characteristic function of a Lévy process and loss of coherence of the statistical operator describing the center of mass degrees of freedom of a quantum system interacting through momentum transfer events with an environment is established. The relationship with microphysical models and recent experiments is considered, focusing on the recently observed transition between a dynamics described by a compound Poisson process and a Gaussian process.

Quantum optical versus quantum Brownian motion master equation in terms of covariance and equilibrium properties

Structures of quantum Fokker–Planck equations are characterized with respect to the properties of complete positivity, covariance under symmetry transformations and satisfaction of equipartition, referring to recent mathematical work on structures of unbounded generators of covariant quantum dynamical semigroups. In particular the quantum optical master equation and the quantum Brownian motion master equation are shown to be associated to U(1) and R symmetry, respectively. Considering the motion of a Brownian particle, where the expression of the quantum Fokker–Planck equation is not completely fixed by the aforementioned requirements, a recently introduced microphysical kinetic model is briefly recalled, where a quantum generalization of the linear Boltzmann equation in the small energy and momentum transfer limit straightforwardly leads to quantum Brownian motion.

Test particle in a quantum gas

A master equation with a Lindblad structure is derived, which describes the interaction of a test particle with a macroscopic system and is expressed in terms of the operator valued dynamic structure factor of the system. In the case of a free Fermi or Bose gas the result is evaluated in the Brownian limit, thus obtaining a single generator master equation for the description of quantum Brownian motion in which the correction due to quantum statistics is explicitly calculated. The friction coefficients for Boltzmann and Bose or Fermi statistics are compared.