Comparison of quantum and classical relaxation in spin dynamics

Abstract

The classical Landau-Lifshitz equation with damping term has been derived from the time evolution of a quantum mechanical wave function under the assumption of a non-hermitian Hamilton operator. Further, the trajectory of a classical spin $\mathrm{S}$ has been compared with the expectation value of the spin operator $\mathrm{\hat{S}}$. A good agreement between classical and quantum mechanical trajectories can be found for Hamiltonians linear in $\mathrm{\hat{S}}$ respectively $\mathrm{S}$. Quadratic or higher order terms in the Hamiltonian result in a disagreement.