Exact master equations describing reduced dynamics of the Wigner function

Abstract

Master equations of different types describe the evolution (reduced dynamics) of a subsystem of a larger system generated by the dynamic of the latter system. Since, in some cases, the (exact) master equations are relatively complicated, there exist numerous approximations for such equations, which are also called master equations.In the paper, we develop an exact master equation describing the reduced dynamics of the Wigner function for quantum systems obtained by a quantization of a Hamiltonian system with a quadratic Hamilton function. First, we consider an exact master equation for first integrals of ordinary differential equations in infinite-dimensional locally convex spaces. After this, we apply the results obtained to develop an exact master equation corresponding to a Liouville-type equation (which is the equation for first integrals of the (system of) Hamilton equation(s)); the latter master equation is called the master Liouville equation; it is a linear first-order differential equation with respect to a function of real variables taking values in a space of functions on the phase space. If the Hamilton equation generating the Liouville equation is linear, then the vector fields that define the first-order linear differential operators in the master Liouville equations are also linear, which in turn implies that for a Gaussian reference state the Fourier transform of a solution of the master Liouville equation also satisfies a linear differential equation.