Open quantum systems

Abstract

The damping of the harmonic oscillator is studied in the framework of the Lindblad theory for open quantum systems. A generalization of the fundamental constraints on quantum mechanical diffusion coefficients which appear in the master equation for the damped quantum oscillator is presented; the Schrödinger, Heisenberg and Weyl-Wigner-Moyal representations of the Lindblad equation are given explicitly. On the basis of these representations it is shown that various master equations for the damped quantum oscillator used in the literature are particular cases of the Lindblad equation and that not all of these equations are satisfying the constraints on quantum mechanical diffusion coefficients. The master equation is transformed into Fokker-Planck equations for quasiprobability distributions and a comparative study is made for the Glauber $P$ representation, the antinormal ordering $Q$ representation and the Wigner $W$ representation. The density matrix is represented via a generating function, which is obtained by solving a time-dependent linear partial differential equation derived from the master equation. The damped harmonic oscillator is applied for the description of the charge equilibration mode observed in deep inelastic reactions. For a system consisting of two harmonic oscillators the time dependence of expectation values, Wigner function and Weyl operator are obtained and discussed. In addition models for the damping of the angular momentum are studied. Using this theory to the quantum tunneling through the nuclear barrier, besides Gamow's transitions with energy conservation, additional transitions with energy loss, are found. When this theory is used to the resonant atom-field interaction, new optical equations describing the coupling through the environment are obtained.