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Mixed quantum-classical electrodynamics: Understanding spontaneous decay and zero-point energy

Journal Article · · Physical Review A
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
  2. Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States). Dept. of Physics; Arizona State Univ., Mesa, AZ (United States). College of Integrative Sciences and Arts
  3. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States). Photon Ultrafast Laser Science and Engineering Inst. (PULSE), and Dept. of Chemistry
The dynamics of an electronic two-level system coupled to an electromagnetic field are simulated explicitly for one- and three-dimensional systems through semiclassical propagation of the Maxwell-Liouville equations. Here, we consider three flavors of mixed quantum-classical dynamics: (i) the classical path approximation (CPA), (ii) Ehrenfest dynamics, and (iii) symmetrical quasiclassical (SQC) dynamics. Our findings are as follows: (i) The CPA fails to recover a consistent description of spontaneous emission, (ii) a consistent “spontaneous” emission can be obtained from Ehrenfest dynamics, provided that one starts in an electronic superposition state, and (iii) spontaneous emission is always obtained using SQC dynamics. Using the SQC and Ehrenfest frameworks, we further calculate the dynamics following an incoming pulse, but here we find very different responses: SQC and Ehrenfest dynamics deviate sometimes strongly in the calculated rate of decay of the transient excited state. Nevertheless, our work confirms the earlier observations by Miller [J. Chem. Phys. 69, 2188 (1978)] that Ehrenfest dynamics can effectively describe some aspects of spontaneous emission and highlights interesting possibilities for studying light-matter interactions with semiclassical mechanics.
Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR); USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515
OSTI ID:
1436986
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1425531
Journal Information:
Physical Review A, Journal Name: Physical Review A Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 97; ISSN PLRAAN; ISSN 2469-9926
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Comparison of Different Classical, Semiclassical, and Quantum Treatments of Light–Matter Interactions: Understanding Energy Conservation journal January 2019
A Necessary Trade-off for Semiclassical Electrodynamics: Accurate Short-Range Coulomb Interactions versus the Enforcement of Causality? text January 2018
Different flavors of nonadiabatic molecular dynamics journal April 2019
Initial sampling in symmetrical quasiclassical dynamics based on Li–Miller mapping Hamiltonian journal January 2019
Performance evaluation of the symmetrical quasi-classical dynamics method based on Meyer-Miller mapping Hamiltonian in the treatment of site-exciton models journal November 2018
Modeling optical coupling of plasmons and inhomogeneously broadened emitters journal March 2019
Ehrenfest+R dynamics. I. A mixed quantum–classical electrodynamics simulation of spontaneous emission journal January 2019
Ehrenfest+R dynamics. II. A semiclassical QED framework for Raman scattering journal January 2019
Benchmarking semiclassical and perturbative methods for real-time simulations of cavity-bound emission and interference journal December 2019
Excited-state dynamics of molecules with classically driven trajectories and Gaussians journal September 2019
Understanding detailed balance for an electron-radiation system through mixed quantum-classical electrodynamics journal July 2019
Understanding the nature of mean-field semiclassical light-matter dynamics: An investigation of energy transfer, electron-electron correlations, external driving, and long-time detailed balance journal December 2019
Capturing vacuum fluctuations and photon correlations in cavity quantum electrodynamics with multitrajectory Ehrenfest dynamics journal June 2019
Ehrenfest+R Dynamics I: A Mixed Quantum-Classical Electrodynamics Simulation of Spontaneous Emission text January 2018
Performance Evaluation of the Symmetrical Quasi-Classical Dynamics Method based on Meyer-Miller Mapping Hamiltonian in the Treatment of Site-Exciton Models text January 2018
Initial Sampling in Symmetrical Quasiclassical Dynamics Based on Li-Miller Mapping Hamiltonian text January 2018
Understanding Detailed Balance for an Electron-Radiation System Through Mixed Quantum-Classical Electrodynamics text January 2019
Benchmarking Semiclassical and Perturbative Methods for Real-time Simulations of Cavity-Bound Emission and Interference text January 2019
Excited-state dynamics of molecules with classically driven trajectories and Gaussians text January 2019
Excited-state dynamics of molecules with classically driven trajectories and Gaussians text January 2019

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