Nonlinear Schrödinger equation and dissipative quantum dynamics in periodic fields

This is the published version, also available here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.40.4171.The nonlinear dynamics of dissipative quantum systems in periodic fields is studied in the framework of a Gisin-like nonlinear Schrödinger equation with deterministic nonunitary quantum friction terms describing the system-bath couplings. The virtue of this nonunitary evolution is that it is compatible with Dirac’s superposition principle and the Hilbert-space structure of quantum kinematics. Floquet theory and the generalized Van Vleck nearly degenerate perturbation method are used to facilitate both analytical and numerical solutions. Closed-form analytic solutions can be obtained in the long-time average approximation or within the rotating-wave approximation. The methods are applied to the study of dissipative quantum dynamics of two-level systems driven by intense periodic fields. It is found that the system asymptotically approaches a limit cycle (whose orientation is subject to the quantum friction constraint), regardless of the strength of the perturbed fields and the nonlinearity constant, indicating quantum suppression of classical chaos. Further, each point of the limit cycle is found to be an attractor and ψ(t) exhibits a fractal-like evolution pattern in the course of time. The structure of the limit cycle depends strongly upon field intensity and frequency as well as the order of nonlinear multiphoton transitions. The power spectrum of the Bloch vector trajectory exhibits a dynamical symmetry inherent in the dissipative system and in the asymptotic limit cycle. A theoretical analysis is presented for the understanding of the origin and the role of the dynamical symmetry

Principle of Maximum Entropy Applied to Rayleigh-B\'enard Convection

A statistical-mechanical investigation is performed on Rayleigh-B\'enard convection of a dilute classical gas starting from the Boltzmann equation. We first present a microscopic derivation of basic hydrodynamic equations and an expression of entropy appropriate for the convection. This includes an alternative justification for the Oberbeck-Boussinesq approximation. We then calculate entropy change through the convective transition choosing mechanical quantities as independent variables. Above the critical Rayleigh number, the system is found to evolve from the heat-conducting uniform state towards the convective roll state with monotonic increase of entropy on the average. Thus, the principle of maximum entropy proposed for nonequilibrium steady states in a preceding paper is indeed obeyed in this prototype example. The principle also provides a natural explanation for the enhancement of the Nusselt number in convection.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures; typos corrected; Eq. (66a) corrected to remove a double counting for $k_{\perp}=0$; Figs. 1-4 replace