Thermalization of open quantum systems using the multiple-Davydov- D2 variational approach

Abstract

Numerical implementation of an explicit phonon bath requires a large number of oscillator modes in order to maintain oscillators at the initial temperature when modeling energy relaxation processes. An additional thermalization algorithm may be useful in controlling the local temperature. In this paper we extend our previously proposed thermalization algorithm [M. Jaku\v{c}ionis and D. Abramavi\v{c}ius, Phys. Rev. A 103, 032202 (2021) ] to be used with the numerically exact multiple-Davydov-D2 trial wave function for simulation of relaxation dynamics and spectroscopic signals of open quantum systems using the time-dependent Dirac-Frenkel variational principle. By applying it to the molecular aggregate model, we demonstrate how the thermalization approach significantly reduces the numerical cost of simulations by decreasing the number of oscillators needed to explicitly simulate the aggregate's environment fluctuations while maintaining correspondence to the exact population relaxation dynamics. Additionally, we show how the thermalization can be used to find the equilibrium state of the excited molecular aggregate, which is necessary for simulation of the fluorescence and other spectroscopic signals. The thermalization algorithm we present offers the possibility to investigate larger system-bath models than was previously possible using the multiple-Davydov-D2 trial wave function and local heating effects in molecular complexes.