Decoherence and Dissipation for a Quantum System Coupled to a Local Environment

Decoherence and dissipation in quantum systems has been studied extensively in the context of Quantum Brownian Motion. Effective decoherence in coarse grained quantum systems has been a central issue in recent efforts by Zurek and by Hartle and Gell-Mann to address the Quantum Measurement Problem. Although these models can yield very general classical phenomenology, they are incapable of reproducing relevant characteristics expected of a local environment on a quantum system, such as the characteristic dependence of decoherence on environment spatial correlations. I discuss the characteristics of Quantum Brownian Motion in a local environment by examining aspects of first principle calculations and by the construction of phenomenological models. Effective quantum Langevin equations and master equations are presented in a variety of representations. Comparisons are made with standard results such as the Caldeira-Leggett master equation.Comment: 6 Pages (LaTeX), to appear in the Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Squeezed States and Uncertainty Relation

Quantum Master Equation of Particle in Gas Environment

The evolution of the reduced density operator $\rho$ of Brownian particle is discussed in single collision approach valid typically in low density gas environments. This is the first succesful derivation of quantum friction caused by {\it local} environmental interactions. We derive a Lindblad master equation for $\rho$, whose generators are calculated from differential cross section of a single collision between Brownian and gas particles, respectively. The existence of thermal equilibrium for $\rho$ is proved. Master equations proposed earlier are shown to be particular cases of our one.Comment: 6 pages PlainTeX, 23-March-199

Models for local ohmic quantum dissipation

We construct model master equations for local quantum dissipation. The master equations are in the form of Lindblad generators, with imposed constraints that the dissipations be strictly linear (i.e. ohmic), isotropic and translationally invariant. A particular form for is chosen to satisfy the constraints. The resulting master equations are given in both the Schr\"odinger and Heisenberg forms. We obtain fluctuation-dissipation relations, and discuss the relaxation of average kinetic energy to effective thermal equilibrium values. We compare our results to the Dekker and the Caldeira-Leggett master equations. These master equations allow a more general approach to quantum dissipation and the dynamics of quantum coherence to account for the nontrivial system-environment coupling in a local environment.Comment: 19 pages, REVTEX, PSU/TH/12

A wall-function approach to incorporating Knudsen-layer effects in gas micro flow simulations

For gas flows in microfluidic configurations, the Knudsen layer close to the wall can comprise a substantial part of the entire flow field and has a major effect on quantities such as the mass flow rate through micro devices. The Knudsen layer itself is characterized by a highly nonlinear relationship between the viscous stress and the strain rate of the gas, so even if the Navier-Stokes equations can be used to describe the core gas flow they are certainly inappropriate for the Knudsen layer itself. In this paper we propose a "wall-function" model for the stress/strain rate relations in the Knudsen layer. The constitutive structure of the Knudsen layer has been derived from results from kinetic theory for isothermal shear flow over a planar surface. We investigate the ability of this simplified model to predict Knudsen-layer effects in a variety of configurations. We further propose a semi-empirical Knudsen-number correction to this wall function, based on high-accuracy DSMC results, to extend the predictive capabilities of the model to greater degrees of rarefaction

The usefulness of higher-order constitutive relations for describing the Knudsen layer

The Knudsen layer is an important rarefaction phenomenon in gas flows in and around microdevices. Its accurate and efficient modeling is of critical importance in the design of such systems and in predicting their performance. In this paper we investigate the potential that higher-order continuum equations may have to model the Knudsen layer, and compare their predictions to high-accuracy DSMC (direct simulation Monte Carlo) data, as well as a standard result from kinetic theory. We find that, for a benchmark case, the most common higher-order continuum equation sets (Grad's 13 moment, Burnett, and super-Burnett equations) cannot capture the Knudsen layer. Variants of these equation families have, however, been proposed and some of them can qualitatively describe the Knudsen layer structure. To make quantitative comparisons, we obtain additional boundary conditions (needed for unique solutions to the higher-order equations) from kinetic theory. However, we find the quantitative agreement with kinetic theory and DSMC data is only slight

Classical and quantum dissipation in non homogeneous environments

We generalize the oscillator model of a particle interacting with a thermal reservoir by introducing arbitrary nonlinear couplings in the particle coordinates.The equilibrium positions of the heat bath oscillators are promoted to space-time functions, which are shown to represent a modulation of the internal noise by the external forces. The model thus provides a description of classical and quantum dissipation in non homogeneous environments. In the classical case we derive a generalized Langevin equation with nonlinear multiplicative noise and a position-dependent fluctuation- dissipation theorem associated to non homogeneous dissipative forces. When time-modulation of the noise is present, a new force term is predicted besides the dissipative and random ones. The model is quantized to obtain the non homogenous influence functional and master equation for the reduced density matrix of the Brownian particle. The quantum evolution equations reproduce the correct Langevin dynamics in the semiclassical limit. The consequences for the issues of decoherence and localization are discussed.Comment: 17 pages, plain LaTeX [12pt,A4wide], DFPD 94/TH/2

Capturing the Knudsen layer in continuum-fluid models of non-equilibrium gas flows

In hypersonic aerodynamics and microflow device design, the momentum and energy fluxes to solid surfaces are often of critical importance. However, these depend on the characteristics of the Knudsen layer - the region of local non-equilibrium existing up to one or two molecular mean free paths from the wall in any gas flow near a surface. While the Knudsen layer has been investigated extensively using kinetic theory, the ability to capture it within a continuum-fluid formulation (in conjunction with slip boundary conditions) suitable for current computational fluid dynamics toolboxes would offer distinct and practical computational advantages