Quantum position diffusion and its implications for the quantum linear Boltzmann equation

Journal Article · Fri Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.81.012107· OSTI ID:21408144

Kamleitner, I; Cresser, J ^[1]

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1. Centre for Quantum Computer Technology, Physics Department, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales 2109 (Australia)

We derive a quantum linear Boltzmann equation from first principles to describe collisional friction, diffusion, and decoherence in a unified framework. In doing so, we discover that the previously celebrated quantum contribution to position diffusion is not a true physical process, but rather an artifact of the use of a coarse-grained time scale necessary to derive Markovian dynamics.

• OSTI ID: 21408144
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 81, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.81.012107; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BOLTZMANN EQUATION
DIFFUSION
FRICTION
MARKOV PROCESS
QUANTUM MECHANICS
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS
INTEGRO-DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
KINETIC EQUATIONS
MECHANICS
PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
STOCHASTIC PROCESSES