G. W. Ford

Statistical Mechanics of Assemblies of Coupled Oscillators

It is shown that a system of coupled harmonic oscillators can be made a model of a heat bath. Thus a particle coupled harmonically to the bath and by an arbitrary force to a fixed center will (in an appropriate limit) exhibit Brownian motion. Both classical and quantum mechanical treatments are given.

PROPAGATION OF OPTICAL EXCITATIONS BY DIPOLAR INTERACTIONS IN METAL NANOPARTICLE CHAINS

Dispersion relations for dipolar modes propagating along a chain of metal nanoparticles are calculated by solving the full Maxwell equations, including radiation damping. The nanoparticles are treated as point dipoles, which means the results are valid only for a/d <= 1/3, where a is the particle radius and d the spacing. The discrete modes for a finite chain are first calculated, then these are mapped onto the dispersion relations appropriate for the infinite chain. Computed results are given for a chain of 50-nm diameter Ag spheres spaced by 75 nm. We find large deviations from previous quasistatic results: Transverse modes interact strongly with the light line. Longitudinal modes develop a bandwidth more than twice as large, resulting in a group velocity that is more than doubled. All modes for which k_mode <= w/c show strongly enhanced decay due to radiation damping.

On the quantum langevin equation

The quantum Langevin equation is the Heisenberg equation of motion for the (operator) coordinate of a Brownian particle coupled to a heat bath. We give an elementary derivation of this equation for a simple coupled-oscillator model of the heat bath.

Cluster expansion for the dielectric constant of a polarizable suspension

We derive a cluster expansion for the electric susceptibility kernel of a dielectric suspension of spherically symmetric inclusions in a uniform background. This also leads to a cluster expansion for the effective dielectric constant. It is shown that the cluster integrals of any order are absolutely convergent, so that the dielectric constant is well defined and independent of the shape of the sample in the limit of a large system. We compare with virial expansions derived earlier in statistical mechanics for the dielectric constant of a nonpolar gas. In these expansions the virial coefficients are given by integrals which are only conditionally convergent.

Exact solution of the Hu-Paz-Zhang master equation

The Hu-Paz-Zhang equation is a master equation for an oscillator coupled to a linear passive bath. It is exact within the assumption that the oscillator and bath are initially uncoupled. Here an exact general solution is obtained in the form of an expression for the Wigner function at time t in terms of the initial Wigner function. The result is applied to the motion of a Gaussian wave packet and to that of a pair of such wave packets. A serious divergence arising from the assumption of an initially uncoupled state is found to be due to the zero-point oscillations of the bath and not removed in a cutoff model. As a consequence, worthwhile results for the equation can only be obtained in the high temperature limit, where zero-point oscillations are neglected. In that limit closed form expressions for wave packet spreading and attenuation of coherence are obtained. These results agree within a numerical factor with those appearing in the literature, which apply for the case of a particle at zero temperature that is suddenly coupled to a bath at high temperature. On the other hand very different results are obtained for the physically consistent case in which the initial particle temperature is arranged to coincide with that of the bath.

Radiation reaction in electrodynamics and the elimination of runaway solutions

pole approximation, as a result of which the Compton wavelength comes into play in the role of a size parameter for the extended electron. By contrast, our considerations will be restricted to the dipole interaction with the goal of carrying out the analysis in an exact manner and analyzing carefully the role of the cutoff frequency, ~2, (which enters into the electron form-factor and, in essence, defines the type of extended model used for the electron) in the equation of motion. The most general quantum equation obtained in our analysis, eq. ( 5 ) below, is a new result and it reduces in the classical limit to (7). Both equations contain I2. We point out that a particular choice for I2 (viz. 12-.c¢, corresponding to a point electron) leads to the AL equation of motion but we argue on physical grounds why this choice should be discarded. We then go on tO deduce that an equation independent of 12 may bel achieved by working to or

Relativistic form of radiation reaction

Abstract We present a relativistic extension of the new form which we have recently obtained for the equation of motion of a radiating electron.

Quantum measurement and decoherence

Distribution functions defined in accord with the quantum theory of measurement are combined with results obtained from the quantum Langevin equation to discuss decoherence in quantum Brownian motion. Closed form expressions for wave packet spreading and the attenuation of coherence of a pair of wave packets are obtained. The results are exact within the context of linear passive dissipation. It is shown that, contrary to widely accepted current belief, decoherence can occur at high temperature in the absence of dissipation. Expressions for the decoherence time with and without dissipation are obtained that differ from those appearing in earlier discussions.

Quantum oscillator in a blackbody radiation field II. Direct calculation of the energy using the fluctuation-dissipation theorem

Abstract An earlier exact result ( Phys. Rev. Lett. 55 (1985), 2273) for the free energy of an oscillatordipole interacting with the radiation field is obtained using the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. A key feature of the earlier calculation, a remarkable formula for the free energy of the oscillator, is obtained in the form of a corresponding formula for the oscillator energy. This confirms, by a longer, more conventional proof, the earlier result. An advantage of this present method is that separate contributions to the energy can be isolated and discussed. Explicit, closed-form expressions are given and the high-temperature limit is discussed.

Comment on "Quantum measurement and decoherence"

The prototypical Schrodinger cat state, i.e., an initial state corresponding to two widely separated Gaussian wave packets, is considered. The decoherence time is calculated solely within the framework of elementary quantum mechanics and equilibrium statistical mechanics. This is at variance with common lore that irreversible coupling to a dissipative environment is the mechanism of decoherence. Here, we show that, on the contrary, decoherence can in fact occur at high temperature even for vanishingly small dissipation.  2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.