Quantum Brownian Motion in a Simple Model System

The European Physical Journal B, 2001

We investigate a mean-field approach to a quantum brownian particle interacting with a quantum thermal bath at temperature T , and subjected to a non-linear potential. An exact, partially classical description of quantum brownian motion is proposed, which uses negative probabilities in its intermediate steps. It is shown that properties of the quantum particle can be mapped to those of two classical brownian particles in a common potential, where one of them interacts with the quantum bath, whereas another one interacts with a classical bath at zero temperature. Due to damping the system allows a unique and non-singular classical limit ath → 0. For high T the stationary state becomes explicitly classical. The low-temperature case is studied through an effective Fokker-Planck equation. Non-trivial purely quantum correlation effects between the two particles are found. PACS: 05.70Ln, 05.10Gg, 05.40-a

Physical review. E, 2020

The motion of a free quantum particle in a thermal environment is usually described by the quantum Langevin equation, where the effect of the bath is encoded through a dissipative and a noise term, related to each other via the fluctuation dissipation theorem. The quantum Langevin equation can be derived starting from a microscopic model of the thermal bath as an infinite collection of harmonic oscillators prepared in an initial equilibrium state. The spectral properties of the bath oscillators and their coupling to the particle determine the specific form of the dissipation and noise. Here we investigate in detail the well-known Rubin bath model, which consists of a one-dimensional harmonic chain with the boundary bath particle coupled to the Brownian particle. We show how in the limit of infinite bath bandwidth, we get the Drude model, and a second limit of infinite system-bath coupling gives the Ohmic model. A detailed analysis of relevant equilibrium correlation functions, such ...

Physical Review B, 1992

We derive a general quantum formula giving the mean-square displacement of a diffusing particle as a function of time. Near 0 K we find a universal logarithmic behavior (valid for times longer than the relaxation time), and deviations from classical behavior can also be significant at larger values of time and temperature. Our derivation depends neither on the specific composition of the heat bath nor on the strength of the coupling between the bath and the particle. An experimental regime of microseconds and microdegrees Kelvin would elicit the pure logarithmic diffusion.

1998

This paper is devoted to generalize some previous results presented in Gaioli et al., Int. J. Theor. Phys. 36, 2167 (1997). We evaluate the autocorrelation function of the stochastic acceleration and study the asymptotic evolution of the mean occupation number of a harmonic oscillator playing the role of a Brownian particle. We also analyze some deviations from the Bose population at low temperatures and compare it with the deviations from the exponential decay law of an unstable quantum system.

Reviews in Mathematical Physics, 2006

We introduce a quantum stochastic dynamics for heat conduction. A multilevel subsystem is coupled to reservoirs at different temperatures. Energy quanta are detected in the reservoirs allowing the study of steady state fluctuations of the entropy dissipation. Our main result states a symmetry in its large deviation rate function.

Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment, 2017

We analyse diffusion at low temperature by bringing the fluctuation-dissipation theorem (FDT) to bear on a physically natural, viscous response-function R(t). The resulting diffusion-law exhibits several distinct regimes of time and temperature, each with its own characteristic rate of spreading. As with earlier analyses, we find logarithmic spreading in the quantum regime, indicating that this behavior is robust. A consistent R(t) must satisfy the key physical requirements of Wightman positivity and passivity, and we prove that ours does so. We also prove in general that these two conditions are equivalent when the FDT holds. Given current technology, our diffusion law can be tested in a laboratory with ultra cold atoms.

arXiv (Cornell University), 2023

Recently, there has been an upsurge of interest in quantum thermodynamic devices, notably quantum batteries. Quantum batteries serve as energy storage devices governed by the rules of quantum thermodynamics. Here, we propose a model of a quantum battery wherein the system of interest can be envisaged as a battery, and the ambient environment acts as a charger (dissipation) mechanism, modeled along the ubiquitous quantum Brownian motion. We employ quantifiers like ergotropy and its (in)-coherent manifestations, as well as instantaneous and average powers, to characterize the performance of the quantum battery. We investigate the influence of the bath's temperature and the system's coupling with the environment via momentum and position coordinates on the discharging and recharging dynamics. Moreover, we probe the memory effects of the system's dynamics and obtain a relationship between the system's non-Markovian evolution and the battery's recharging process.

Physical Review A, 2010

The influence of the environment in the thermal equilibrium properties of a bipartite continuous variable quantum system is studied. The problem is treated within a system-plus-reservoir approach. The considered model reproduces the conventional Brownian motion when the two particles are far apart and induces an effective interaction between them, depending on the choice of the spectral function of the bath. The coupling between the system and the environment guarantees the translational invariance of the system in the absence of an external potential. The entanglement between the particles is measured by the logarithmic negativity, which is shown to monotonically decrease with the increase of the temperature. A range of finite temperatures is found in which entanglement is still induced by the reservoir.

2006

The quantum thermodynamic behavior of small systems is investigated in presence of finite quantum dissipation. We consider the archetype cases of a damped harmonic oscillator and a free quantum Brownian particle. A main finding is that quantum dissipation helps to ensure the validity of the Third Law. For the quantum oscillator, finite damping replaces the zero-coupling result of an exponential suppression of the specific heat at low temperatures by a power-law behavior. Rather intriguing is the behavior of the free quantum Brownian particle. In this case, quantum dissipation is able to restore the Third Law: Instead of being constant down to zero temperature, the specific heat now vanishes proportional to temperature with an amplitude that is inversely proportional to the ohmic dissipation strength. A distinct subtlety of finite quantum dissipation is the result that the various thermodynamic functions of the subsystem do not only depend on the dissipation strength but depend as well on the prescription employed in their definition.

We complete the program started in by proving that, in the weak coupling limit, the matrix elements, in the collective coherent vectors, of the Heisenberg evolved of an observable of a system coupled to a quasi-free reservoir through a laser type interaction, converge to the matrix elements of a quantum stochastic process satisfying a quantum Langevin equation driven by a quantum Brownian motion. Our results apply to an arbitrary quasi-free reservoir so, in particular, the finite temperature case is included.