A Unified Stochastic Formulation of Dissipative Quantum Dynamics. I. Generalized Hierarchical Equations

Abstract

We extend a standard stochastic theory to study open quantum systems coupled to generic quantum environments including the three fundamental classes of noninteracting particles: bosons, fermions and spins. In this unified stochastic approach, the generalized stochastic Liouville equation (SLE) formally captures the exact quantum dissipations when noise variables with appropriate statistics for different bath models are applied. Anharmonic effects of a non-Gaussian bath are precisely encoded in the bath multi-time correlation functions that noise variables have to satisfy. Staring from the SLE, we devise a family of generalized hierarchical equations by averaging out the noise variables and expand bath multi-time correlation functions in a complete basis of orthonormal functions. The general hiearchical equations constitute systems of linear equations that provide numerically exact simulations of quantum dynamics. For bosonic bath models, our general hierarchical equation of motion reduces exactly to an extended version of hierarchical equation of motion which allows efficient simulation for arbitrary spectral densities and temperature regimes. Similar efficiency and exibility can be achieved for the fermionic bath models within our formalism. The spin bath models can be simulated with two complementary approaches in the presetn formalism. (I) They can be viewed as an example of non-Gaussian bath models and be directly handled with the general hierarchical equation approach given their multi-time correlation functions. (II) Alterantively, each bath spin can be first mapped onto a pair of fermions and be treated as fermionic environments within the present formalism.