A self-consistent treatment of electron transfer in the limit of strong friction via the mixed quantum classical Liouville method

Filtering schemes in the quantum-classical Liouville approach to nonadiabatic dynamics

We study a number of filtering schemes for the reduction of the statistical error in nonadiabatic calculations by means of the quantum-classical Liouville equation. In particular, we focus on a scheme based on setting a threshold value on the sampling weights, so that when the threshold is overcome the value of the weight is reset, and on another approach which prunes the ensemble of the allowed nonadiabatic transitions according to a generalized sampling probability. Both methods have advantages and drawbacks, however, their combination drastically improves the performance of an algorithm known as the sequential short-time step propagation [MacKernan et al., J. Phys: Condens. Matter 14, 9069 (2002)], which is derived from a simple first order expansion of the quantum-classical propagator. Such an algorithm together with the combined filtering procedures produce results that compare very well with those obtained by means of numerically accurate path integral quantum calculations for the spin-boson model, even for intermediate and strong coupling regimes.

Communication: quantum dynamics in classical spin baths

A formalism for studying the dynamics of quantum systems embedded in classical spin baths is introduced. The theory is based on generalized antisymmetric brackets and predicts the presence of open-path off-diagonal geometric phases in the evolution of the density matrix. The weak coupling limit of the equation can be integrated by standard algorithms and provides a non-Markovian approach to the computer simulation of quantum systems in classical spin environments. It is expected that the theory and numerical schemes presented here have a wide applicability.