Ehrenfest's theorem beyond the Ehrenfest time

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Hernández, Felipe, Ranard, Daniel, Riedel, C. Jess
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2023
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author Hernández, Felipe
Ranard, Daniel
Riedel, C. Jess
author_facet Hernández, Felipe
Ranard, Daniel
Riedel, C. Jess
contents In closed quantum systems, wavepackets can spread exponentially in time due to chaos, forming long-range superpositions in just seconds for ordinary macroscopic systems. A weakly coupled environment is conjectured to decohere the system and restore the quantum-classical correspondence while necessarily introducing diffusive noise -- but at what coupling strength, and under which conditions? For Markovian open systems with Hamiltonians of the form $H = p^2/2m+V(x)$ and Hermitian linear Lindblad operators, we prove the quantum and classical evolutions are close whenever the strength of the environment-induced diffusion satisfies $D \gg (\hbar/s_H)^{4/3} D_H$, where $s_H$ and $D_H$ are characteristic action and diffusion scales that we define precisely using the classical Hamiltonian $H$. The bound applies for all observables and for times exponentially longer than the Ehrenfest timescale, which is when the correspondence can break down in closed systems. The strength of the diffusive noise can vanish in the classical limit to give the appearance of reversible dynamics. The $4/3$ exponent may be optimal, suggested by heuristic arguments and prior numerical evidence. Based on our bound, we give an efficient classical algorithm for simulating quantum Lindblad dynamics, which becomes provably accurate when the strength of environmental coupling exceeds the above threshold.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2306_13717
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Ehrenfest's theorem beyond the Ehrenfest time
Hernández, Felipe
Ranard, Daniel
Riedel, C. Jess
Quantum Physics
Mathematical Physics
In closed quantum systems, wavepackets can spread exponentially in time due to chaos, forming long-range superpositions in just seconds for ordinary macroscopic systems. A weakly coupled environment is conjectured to decohere the system and restore the quantum-classical correspondence while necessarily introducing diffusive noise -- but at what coupling strength, and under which conditions? For Markovian open systems with Hamiltonians of the form $H = p^2/2m+V(x)$ and Hermitian linear Lindblad operators, we prove the quantum and classical evolutions are close whenever the strength of the environment-induced diffusion satisfies $D \gg (\hbar/s_H)^{4/3} D_H$, where $s_H$ and $D_H$ are characteristic action and diffusion scales that we define precisely using the classical Hamiltonian $H$. The bound applies for all observables and for times exponentially longer than the Ehrenfest timescale, which is when the correspondence can break down in closed systems. The strength of the diffusive noise can vanish in the classical limit to give the appearance of reversible dynamics. The $4/3$ exponent may be optimal, suggested by heuristic arguments and prior numerical evidence. Based on our bound, we give an efficient classical algorithm for simulating quantum Lindblad dynamics, which becomes provably accurate when the strength of environmental coupling exceeds the above threshold.
title Ehrenfest's theorem beyond the Ehrenfest time
topic Quantum Physics
Mathematical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.13717