Generalized Master Equation Research Articles

Fractional Fokker-Planck Equations for Subdiffusion with Space- and Time-Dependent Forces

We derive a fractional Fokker-Planck equation for subdiffusion in a general space- and time-dependent force field from power law waiting time continuous time random walks biased by Boltzmann weights. The governing equation is derived from a generalized master equation and is shown to be equivalent to a subordinated stochastic Langevin equation.

Fluctuation Relations and Rare Realizations of Transport Observables

Fluctuation relations establish rigorous identities for the nonequilibrium averages of observables. Starting from a general transport master equation with time-dependent rates, we employ the stochastic path integral approach to study statistical fluctuations around such averages. We show how under nonequilibrium conditions, rare realizations of transport observables are crucial and imply massive fluctuations that may completely mask such identities. Quantitative estimates for these fluctuations are provided. We illustrate our results on the paradigmatic example of a mesoscopic RC circuit.

Polychromatic quadripartite entanglement from concurrent four-wave mixing in a three-level atomic system

In this paper, we investigate the generation of polychromatic quadripartite entanglement of continuous variables from a three-level $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$-type atomic system inside an optical quadruply resonant cavity. The atoms are driven by external lasers and simultaneously coupled to four cavity modes by means of multiply concurrent four-wave mixing interactions. The general master equation of the cavity field is derived explicitly. By solving the Gaussian-type master equation and using the negative-partial-transpose criterion for bipartite entanglement, we show that the genuine quadripartite entanglement of the field can be generated over a wide range of parameters. The entanglement properties of the four-mode field are discussed in detail. We find that the optimal quadripartite entanglement can be obtained when the cavity modes are tuned to be resonant with the Rabi sidebands of the driven atoms.

Time-dependent magnetotransport in semiconductor nanostructures via the generalized master equation

Transport of electrons through two-dimensional semiconductor structures on the nanoscale in the presence of perpendicular magnetic field depends on the interplay of geometry of the system, the leads, and the magnetic length. We use a generalized master equation (GME) formalism to describe the transport through the system without resorting to the Markov approximation. Coupling to the leads results in elastic and inelastic processes in the system that are described to a high order by the integro-differential equation of the GME formalism. Geometrical details of systems and leads leave their fingerprints on the transport of electrons through them. The GME formalism can be used to describe both the initial transient regime immediately after the coupling of the leads to the system and the steady state achieved after a longer time.

Dynamic correlations induced by Coulomb interactions in coupled quantum dots

Time-dependent transport through two capacitively coupled quantum dots is studied in the framework of the generalized master equation. The Coulomb interaction is included within the exact diagonalization method. Each dot is connected to two leads at different times, such that a steady state is established in one dot before the coupling of the other dot to its leads. By appropriately tuning the bias windows on each dot we find that in the final steady state the transport may be suppressed or enhanced. These two cases are explained by the redistribution of charge on the many-body states built on both dots. We also predict and analyze the transient mutual charge sensing of the dots.

Inelastic cotunneling in quantum dots and molecules with weakly broken degeneracies

We calculate the nonlinear cotunneling conductance through interacting quantum dot systems in the deep Coulomb blockade regime using a rate equation approach based on the T-matrix formalism, which shows in the concerned regions very good agreement with a generalized master equation approach. Our focus is on inelastic cotunneling in systems with weakly broken degeneracies, such as complex quantum dots or molecules. We find for these systems a characteristic gate dependence of the non-equilibrium cotunneling conductance. While on one side of a Coulomb diamond the conductance decreases after the inelastic cotunneling threshold towards its saturation value, on the other side it increases monotonously even after the threshold. We show that this behavior originates from an asymmetric gate voltage dependence of the effective cotunneling amplitudes.

Decoherence in Adiabatic Quantum Evolution: Application to Cooper Pair Pumping

One of the challenges of adiabatic control theory is the proper inclusion of the effects of dissipation. Here we study the adiabatic dynamics of an open two-level quantum system deriving a generalized master equation to consistently account for the combined action of the driving and dissipation. We demonstrate that in the zero-temperature limit the ground state dynamics is not affected by environment. As an example, we apply our theory to Cooper pair pumping, which demonstrates the robustness of ground state adiabatic evolution.

Noncommutative dynamics and generalized master equations

We review the basic concepts of quantum probability and stochastics using the universal Ito B*-algebra approach. The main notions and results of classical and quantum stochastics are reformulated in this unifying approach. The general Levy process is defined in terms of the modular B*-Ito algebra, and the corresponding quantum stochastic master equation on the predual space of theW*-algebra is derived as a noncommutative version of the Zakai equation driven by the process. This is done by a noncommutative analog of the Girsanov transformation, which we introduce here in full generality.

Correlated time-dependent transport through a two-dimensional quantum structure

We use a generalized master equation (GME) to describe the nonequilibrium magnetotransport of interacting electrons through a broad finite quantum wire with an embedded ring structure. The finite quantum wire is weakly coupled to two broad leads acting as reservoirs of electrons. The mutual Coulomb interaction of the electrons is described using a configuration interaction method for the many-electron states of the central system. We report some non-trivial interaction effects both at the level of time-dependent filling of states and on the time-dependent transport. We find that the Coulomb interaction in this non-trivial geometry can enhance the correlation of electronic states in the system and facilitate it's charging in certain circumstances in the weak coupling limit appropriate for the GME. In addition, we find oscillations in the current in the leads due to the correlations oscillations caused by the switched-on lead- system coupling. The oscillations are influenced and can be enhanced by the external magnetic field and the Coulomb interaction.

Double scattering of intense laser light by two atoms

This paper analyzes coherent backscattering of intense laser light by two randomly placed distant atoms. Starting from the general two-atom master equation, we analytically derive the elastic and inelastic background and interference components of the double scattering spectrum. By expressing the final results in terms of single-atom observables, the two-atom problem is shown to be equivalent to a description in terms of single atoms under bichromatic driving.

Coulomb interaction and transient charging of excited states in open nanosystems

We obtain and analyze the effect of electron-electron Coulomb interaction on the time dependent current flowing through a mesoscopic system connected to biased semi-infinite leads. We assume the contact is gradually switched on in time and we calculate the time dependent reduced density operator of the sample using the generalized master equation. The many-electron states (MES) of the isolated sample are derived with the exact diagonalization method. The chemical potentials of the two leads create a bias window which determines which MES are relevant to the charging and discharging of the sample and to the currents, during the transient or steady states. We discuss the contribution of the MES with fixed number of electrons N and we find that in the transient regime there are excited states more active than the ground state even for N=1. This is a dynamical signature of the Coulomb blockade phenomenon. We discuss numerical results for three sample models: short 1D chain, 2D lattice, and 2D parabolic quantum wire.

Communications: A nonperturbative quantum master equation approach to charge carrier transport in organic molecular crystals

We present a nonperturbative quantum master equation to investigate charge carrier transport in organic molecular crystals based on the Liouville space hierarchical equations of motion method, which extends the previous stochastic Liouville equation and generalized master equation methods to a full quantum treatment of the electron-phonon coupling. Diffusive motion of charge carriers in a one-dimensional model in the presence of nonlocal electron-phonon coupling was studied, and two different charge carrier diffusion mechanisms are observed for large and small average intermolecular couplings. The new method can also find applications in calculating spectra and energy transfer in various types of quantum aggregates where the perturbative treatments fail.

Jump probabilities in the non-Markovian quantum jump method

The dynamics of a non-Markovian open quantum system described by a general time-local master equation is studied. The propagation of the density operator is constructed in terms of two processes: (i) deterministic evolution and (ii) evolution of a probability density functional in the projective Hilbert space. The analysis provides a derivation for the jump probabilities used in the recently developed non-Markovian quantum jump (NMQJ) method (Piilo et al 2008 Phys. Rev. Lett. 100 180402).

EIT Four-Level Lambda Scheme of Cold Rubidium Atoms

In this paper, using the general master equation in the dipole interaction and the rotating-wave approximation, we will explain the experimental results obtained by Warsaw Group for Electromagnetically Induced Transparency in four-level lambda scheme of cold rubidium atoms. The theoretical calculations are in good agreement with the experimental data.

Continuous-time random walks at all times

Continuous-time random walks (CTRW) play an important role in understanding of a wide range of phenomena. However, most theoretical studies of these models concentrate only on dynamics at long times. We present a new theoretical approach, based on generalized master equations picture, which allowed us to obtain explicit expressions for Laplace transforms for all dynamic quantities for different CTRW models. This theoretical method leads to the effective description of CTRW at all times. Specific calculations are performed for homogeneous, periodic models and for CTRW with irreversible detachments. The approach to stationary states for CTRW is analyzed. Our results are also used to analyze generalized fluctuations theorem.

Extracavity quantum vacuum radiation from a single qubit

We present a theory of the quantum vacuum radiation that is generated by a fast modulation of the vacuum Rabi frequency of a single two-level system strongly coupled to a single cavity mode. The dissipative dynamics of the Jaynes-Cummings model in the presence of anti-rotating wave terms is described by a generalized master equation including non-Markovian terms. Peculiar spectral properties and significant extracavity quantum vacuum radiation output are predicted for state-of-the-art circuit cavity quantum electrodynamics systems with superconducting qubits.

Time-dependent transport via the generalized master equation through a finite quantum wire with an embedded subsystem

In this paper, we apply the generalized master equation to analyze time-dependent transport through a finite quantum wire with an embedded subsystem. The parabolic quantum wire and the leads with several subbands are described by a continuous model. We use an approach originally developed for a tight-binding description selecting the relevant states for transport around the bias-window defined around the values of the chemical potential in the left and right leads in order to capture the effects of the nontrivial geometry of the system in the transport. We observe a partial current reflection as a manifestation of a quasi-bound state in an embedded well and the formation of a resonance state between an off-set potential hill and the boundary of the system.

A generalized master equation approach to modelling anomalous transport in animal movement

We present some models of random walks with internal degrees of freedom that have the potential to find application in the context of animal movement and stochastic search. The formalism we use is based on the generalized master equation which is particularly convenient here because of its inherent coarse-graining procedure whereby a random walker position is averaged over the internal degrees of freedom. We show some instances in which non-local jump probabilities emerge from the coupling of the motion to the internal degrees of freedom, and how the tuning of one parameter can give rise to sub-, super- and normal diffusion at long times. Remarks on the relation between the generalized master equation, continuous time random walks and fractional diffusion equations are also presented.

Collisional effects on the HFS transitions of antiprotonic helium

Collisions of metastable antiprotonic helium with ordinary He atoms can induce transitions between hyperfine structure (HFS) sublevels and thus relaxation of the populations as well as shift and broadening of M1 microwave spectral lines. Previously we have considered these effects, using quantum close-coupling method for the collisions and the model interatomic interaction involving tensor term (Korenman and Yudin, J Phys B At Mol Opt Phys 39:1473–1484, 2006). In this paper we extend the consideration in two lines: (i) collisional transition rates, shifts and broadenings of M1-lines are considered in relation to the strength of the tensor interaction; (ii) time evolution of the density matrix of HFS states is considered using the generalized master equation with the calculated elementary characteristics. A good agreement with the recent experimental data on the time dependence of optimum signal-to-noise ratio and of linewidth is obtained using the strength of tensor interactions as a free parameter.

Dynamics of electron transfer reactions in the presence of mode mixing: Comparison of a generalized master equation approach with the numerically exact simulation

A generalized master equation approach is developed to describe electron transfer (ET) dynamics in the presence of mode mixing. Results from this approximate approach are compared to the numerically exact simulations using the multilayer multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree theory. The generalized master equation approach is found to work well for nonadiabatic resonant ET. Depending on the specific situation, it is found that the introduction of mode mixing may either increase or decrease the ET time scale. The master equation fails in the adiabatic ET regime, where the introduction of mode mixing may lead to electron trapping. From both the approximate theory and the numerically exact simulation it is shown how neglecting mode mixing in practical calculations may lead to inaccurate predictions of the ET dynamics.