Transition from quantum to classical dissipation in the problem of escape from a metastable well: Application to Josephson junctions.

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For a dissipative quantum system in the low-damping regime, we show that the master-equation description of the reduced density matrix reduces, in the semiclassical limit, to the energy-diffusion version of the Fokker-Planck equation. This result can be generalized to include non-Ohmic damping and an external harmonic perturbation. Results of calculations based on the master equation show good agreement with experiments on the resistanceless-to-resistive transition in Josephson junctions in the classical regime and with results of purely classical calculations.