A semi-quantum approach for modelling the accelerated test data

Abstract

The traditional models for the analysis of the accelerated test data cannot physically explains how the environment affects lifetime and its uncertainty. To solve this problem, this paper utilizes the theory of open quantum system, the theory about random behaviour of microparticles under the external environment, to describe the effects of stresses on lifetime uncertainty. The interaction between the system and environments motivates us to describe the accelerated test data from a quantum perspective. A quantum master equation is used as the reliability dynamics, which can be separated into a conservation term and a decay term. Then, the acceleration model is further incorporated into the decay term of the dynamic and forms a semi-quantum model. A practical procedure is proposed to obtain the initial guesses of parameters and do a graphic check on the assumption. Applications on two sets of real accelerated life test data show the proposed model outperforms the existing ones and hence verify its validity. This paper makes the first attempt to quantify the uncertainty under different environments from a quantum perspective and shows that it is feasible to utilize quantum theory to make a further exploration.