TY - JOUR
T1 - Quantum Smoluchowski equation for a spin bath
AU - Sinha, Sudarson Sekhar
AU - Ghosh, Arnab
AU - Ray, Deb Shankar
PY - 2011/9/16
Y1 - 2011/9/16
N2 - We derive the quantum mechanical description of overdamped Brownian motion of a particle in a spin bath of two-level atoms. The resulting Smoluchowski equation is used to calculate the rate of escape of the particle from a metastable state. At 0 K the decay rate is finite. We show that while quantization enhances the decay rate, higher temperatures induce thermal saturation, resulting in effective a reduction of the system-bath coupling. The role of coherence is examined.
AB - We derive the quantum mechanical description of overdamped Brownian motion of a particle in a spin bath of two-level atoms. The resulting Smoluchowski equation is used to calculate the rate of escape of the particle from a metastable state. At 0 K the decay rate is finite. We show that while quantization enhances the decay rate, higher temperatures induce thermal saturation, resulting in effective a reduction of the system-bath coupling. The role of coherence is examined.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80053038214&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevE.84.031118
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevE.84.031118
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AN - SCOPUS:80053038214
SN - 1539-3755
VL - 84
JO - Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
JF - Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
IS - 3
M1 - 031118
ER -