6 research outputs found
Frictional quantum decoherence
The dynamics associated with a measurement-based master equation for quantum
Brownian motion are investigated. A scheme for obtaining time evolution from
general initial conditions is derived. This is applied to analyze dissipation
and decoherence in the evolution of both a Gaussian and a Schr\"{o}dinger cat
initial state. Dependence on the diffusive terms present in the master equation
is discussed with reference to both the coordinate and momentum
representations.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure
Non-Markovian quantum trajectories for spectral detection
We present a formulation of non-Markovian quantum trajectories for open
systems from a measurement theory perspective. In our treatment there are three
distinct ways in which non-Markovian behavior can arise; a mode dependent
coupling between bath (reservoir) and system, a dispersive bath, and by
spectral detection of the output into the bath. In the first two cases the
non-Markovian behavior is intrinsic to the interaction, in the third case the
non-Markovian behavior arises from the method of detection. We focus in detail
on the trajectories which simulate real-time spectral detection of the light
emitted from a localized system. In this case, the non-Markovian behavior
arises from the uncertainty in the time of emission of particles that are later
detected. The results of computer simulations of the spectral detection of the
spontaneous emission from a strongly driven two-level atom are presented
Resonance fluorescence in a band gap material: Direct numerical simulation of non-Markovian evolution
A numerical method of calculating the non-Markovian evolution of a driven
atom radiating into a structured continuum is developed. The formal solution
for the atomic reduced density matrix is written as a Markovian algorithm by
introducing a set of additional, virtual density matrices which follow, to the
level of approximation of the algorithm, all the possible trajectories of the
photons in the electromagnetic field. The technique is perturbative in the
sense that more virtual density matrices are required as the product of the
effective memory time and the effective coupling strength become larger. The
number of density matrices required is given by where is the number
of timesteps per memory time. The technique is applied to the problem of a
driven two-level atom radiating close to a photonic band gap and the
steady-state correlation function of the atom is calculated.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figure