Solving quantum dynamics is an exponentially difficult problem. Thus, an exact numerical solution is inaccessible for any condensed matter system.
A promising approach is to divide the system into a quantum subsystem containing degrees of freedom which are of greater interest or those which have more profound quantum character (e.g., have smaller mass) and a classical bath containing the rest of the system.
Imposing such a partition and treating the bath classically results in quantum-classical dynamics. The quantum-classical Liouville equation is a general equation in the Hilbert space of quantum degrees of freedom while it resides in the phase space of the classical degrees of freedom.
Any numerical solution to this equation requires representation of the quantum subsystem in some basis. Solutions to this equation have been already proposed in the subsystem, adiabatic and force bases, each with its own cons and pros.
In this work, the quantum-classical equations of motion are cast in the subsystem basis and subsequently mapped to a number of fictitious harmonic oscillators.
The result is quantum-classical dynamics in the mapping basis which treats both quantum and classical degrees of freedom on the same footing, i.e., in phase space. Neglecting a portion of the back reaction of the quantum-subsystem to classical bath results in an expression for the time evolution of an operator (density matrix) equal to its Poisson bracket with the Hamiltonian.
This equation can be solved in terms of characteristics to provide a computationally tractable method for calculating quantum-classical dynamical properties. The expressions for expectation values and correlation functions in this formalism are derived.
Calculations on spin-boson system, barrier crossing models---the so called Tully models---and the Fenna-Mathews-Olson pigments show very good agreement between the results of this method and numerical solutions to the Schrödinger equation.Ph
