Correlation and response functions with non-Markovian dissipation: A reduced Liouville-space theory

Memory-effect-preserving quantum master equation approach to noise spectrum of transport current

Within the time-nonlocal quantum master equation description, we develop an efficient method for calculating the noise spectrum of transport current through interacting mesoscopic systems. By introducing proper current-related density operators, we propose a practical and very efficient time-local equation of motion implementation to compute the noise spectrum, which contains the full information of emission and absorption. We obtain an analytical expression to characterize the nonequilibrium transport including Coulomb interaction and memory effect. We demonstrate the proposed method with double quantum dots systems and find good agreement with the exact results, whenever the system-reservoir coupling is smaller than the temperature.

Theoretical Study of the Spectral Differences of the Fenna-Matthews-Olson Protein from Different Species and Their Mutants

The structural basis for the spectral differences between the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) proteins from Chlorobaculum tepidum (C. tepidum) and Prosthecochloris aestuarii 2K (P. aestuarii) is yet to be fully understood. Mutation-induced perturbation to the exciton structure and the optical spectra of the complex provide a suitable means to investigate the critical role played by the protein scaffold. In this work, we have performed quantum-mechanics/molecular-mechanics calculations over the molecular dynamics simulation trajectories with the polarized protein-specific charge scheme for both wild-type FMOs and two mutants. Our result reveals that a single-point mutation in the vicinity of BChl 6, namely, W183F of C. tepidum, significantly affects the absorption spectrum, resulting in a switch of the absorption spectrum from type 2, for which the 806 nm band is more pronounced than the 815 nm band, to type 1, for which the 815 nm band is pronounced. Our observations agree with the single-point mutation experiments reported by Saer et al. (Biochim. Biophys. Acta, Bioenerg. 2017, 1858, 288-296) and Khmelnitskiy et al. (J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2018, 9, 3378-3386). In contrast, the absorption spectrum of the P. aestuarii experiences the opposite transition (from type 1 to type 2) upon the same mutation. Furthermore, by comparing the contributions of individual pigments to the spectra in the wild type and its mutant, we find that a single-point mutation near BChl 6 not only induces changes in excitation energy of BChl 6 per se but also affects the excitonic structures of the neighboring BChls 5 and 7 through strong interpigment electronic couplings, resulting in a significant change in the absorption spectra.

Onsets of hierarchy truncation and self-consistent Born approximation with quantum mechanics prescriptions invariance

The issue of efficient hierarchy truncation is related to many approximate theories. In this paper, we revisit this issue from both the numerical efficiency and quantum mechanics prescription invariance aspects. The latter requires that the truncation approximation made in Schrödinger picture, such as the quantum master equations and their self-consistent-Born-approximation improvements, should be transferable to their Heisenberg-picture correspondences, without further approximations. We address this issue with the dissipaton equation of motion (DEOM), which is a unique theory for the dynamics of not only reduced systems but also hybrid bath environments. We also highlight the DEOM theory is not only about how its dynamical variables evolve in time, but also the underlying dissipaton algebra. We demonstrate this unique feature of DEOM with model systems and report some intriguing nonlinear Fano interferences characteristics that are experimentally measurable.

Modeling, calculating, and analyzing multidimensional vibrational spectroscopies

Spectral line shapes in a condensed phase contain information from various dynamic processes that modulate the transition energy, such as microscopic dynamics, inter- and intramolecular couplings, and solvent dynamics. Because nonlinear response functions are sensitive to the complex dynamics of chemical processes, multidimensional vibrational spectroscopies can separate these processes. In multidimensional vibrational spectroscopy, the nonlinear response functions of a molecular dipole or polarizability are measured using ultrashort pulses to monitor inter- and intramolecular vibrational motions. Because a complex profile of such signals depends on the many dynamic and structural aspects of a molecular system, researchers would like to have a theoretical understanding of these phenomena. In this Account, we explore and describe the roles of different physical phenomena that arise from the peculiarities of the system-bath coupling in multidimensional spectra. We also present simple analytical expressions for a weakly coupled multimode Brownian system, which we use to analyze the results obtained by the experiments and simulations. To calculate the nonlinear optical response, researchers commonly use a particular form of a system Hamiltonian fit to the experimental results. The optical responses of molecular vibrational motions have been studied in either an oscillator model or a vibration energy state model. In principle, both models should give the same results as long as the energy states are chosen to be the eigenstates of the oscillator model. The energy state model can provide a simple description of nonlinear optical processes because the diagrammatic Liouville space theory that developed in the electronically resonant spectroscopies can easily handle three or four energy states involved in high-frequency vibrations. However, the energy state model breaks down if we include the thermal excitation and relaxation processes in the dynamics to put the system in a thermal equilibrium state. The roles of these excitation and relaxation processes are different and complicated compared with those in the resonant spectroscopy. Observing the effects of such thermal processes is more intuitive with the oscillator model because the bath modes, which cause the fluctuation and dissipation processes, are also described in the coordinate space. This coordinate space system-bath approach complements a realistic full molecular dynamics simulation approach. By comparing the calculated 2D spectra from the coordinate space model and the energy state model, we can examine the role of thermal processes and anharmonic mode-mode couplings in the energy state model. For this purpose, we employed the Brownian oscillator model with the nonlinear system-bath interaction. Using the hierarchy formalism, we could precisely calculate multidimensional spectra for a single and multimode anharmonic system for inter- and intramolecular vibrational modes.

Optimal control simulation of the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm in a two-dimensional double well coupled to an environment

The quantum Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm is implemented by using vibrational modes of a two-dimensional double well. The laser fields realizing the different gates (NOT, CNOT, and HADAMARD) on the two-qubit space are computed by the multitarget optimal control theory. The stability of the performance index is checked by coupling the system to an environment. Firstly, the two-dimensional subspace is coupled to a small number Nb of oscillators in order to simulate intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution. The complete (2+Nb)D problem is solved by the coupled harmonic adiabatic channel method which allows including coupled modes up to Nb=5. Secondly, the computational subspace is coupled to a continuous bath of oscillators in order to simulate a confined environment expected to be favorable to achieve molecular computing, for instance, molecules confined in matrices or in a fullerene. The spectral density of the bath is approximated by an Ohmic law with a cutoff for some hundreds of cm(-1). The time scale of the bath dynamics (of the order of 10 fs) is then smaller than the relaxation time and the controlled dynamics (2 ps) so that Markovian dissipative dynamics is used.

Reduced dynamics of coupled harmonic and anharmonic oscillators using higher-order perturbation theory

Several techniques to solve a hierarchical set of equations of motion for propagating a reduced density matrix coupled to a thermal bath have been developed in recent years. This is either done using the path integral technique as in the original proposal by Tanimura and Kubo [J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 58, 101 (1998)] or by the use of stochastic fields as done by Yan et al. [Chem. Phys. Lett. 395, 216 (2004)]. Based on the latter ansatz a compact derivation of the hierarchy using a decomposition of the spectral density function is given in the present contribution. The method is applied to calculate the time evolution of the reduced density matrix describing the motion in a harmonic, an anharmonic, and two coupled oscillators where each system is coupled to a thermal bath. Calculations to several orders in the system-bath coupling with two different truncations of the hierarchy are performed. The respective density matrices are used to calculate the time evolution of various system properties and the results are compared and discussed with a special focus on the convergence with respect to the truncation scheme applied.