Buckled nano rod – a two state system: quantum effects on its dynamics

Quasi-Lie Brackets and the Breaking of Time-Translation Symmetry for Quantum Systems Embedded in Classical Baths

Many open quantum systems encountered in both natural and synthetic situations are embedded in classical-like baths. Often, the bath degrees of freedom may be represented in terms of canonically conjugate coordinates, but in some cases they may require a non-canonical or non-Hamiltonian representation. Herein, we review an approach to the dynamics and statistical mechanics of quantum subsystems embedded in either non-canonical or non-Hamiltonian classical-like baths which is based on operator-valued quasi-probability functions. These functions typically evolve through the action of quasi-Lie brackets and their associated Quantum-Classical Liouville Equations, or through quasi-Lie brackets augmented by dissipative terms. Quasi-Lie brackets possess the unique feature that, while conserving the energy (which the Noether theorem links to time-translation symmetry), they violate the time-translation symmetry of their algebra. This fact can be heuristically understood in terms of the dynamics of the open quantum subsystem. We then describe an example in which a quantum subsystem is embedded in a bath of classical spins, which are described by non-canonical coordinates. In this case, it has been shown that an off-diagonal open-bath geometric phase enters into the propagation of the quantum-classical dynamics. Next, we discuss how non-Hamiltonian dynamics may be employed to generate the constant-temperature evolution of phase space degrees of freedom coupled to the quantum subsystem. Constant-temperature dynamics may be generated by either a classical Langevin stochastic process or a Nosé–Hoover deterministic thermostat. These two approaches are not equivalent but have different advantages and drawbacks. In all cases, the calculation of the operator-valued quasi-probability function allows one to compute time-dependent statistical averages of observables. This may be accomplished in practice using a hybrid Molecular Dynamics/Monte Carlo algorithms, which we outline herein.

Isomerization dynamics of a buckled nanobeam

We analyze the dynamics of a model of a nanobeam under compression. The model is a two-mode truncation of the Euler-Bernoulli beam equation subject to compressive stress applied at both ends. We consider parameter regimes where the first mode is unstable and the second mode can be either stable or unstable, and the remaining modes (neglected) are always stable. Material parameters used correspond to a silicon nanobeam. The two-mode model Hamiltonian is the sum of a (diagonal) kinetic energy term and a potential energy term. The form of the potential energy function suggests an analogy with isomerization reactions in chemistry, where "isomerization" here corresponds to a transition between two stable beam configurations. We therefore study the dynamics of the buckled beam using the conceptual framework established for the theory of isomerization reactions. When the second mode is stable the potential energy surface has an index one saddle, and when the second mode is unstable the potential energy surface has an index two saddle and two index one saddles. Symmetry of the system allows us to readily construct a phase space dividing surface between the two "isomers" (buckled states); we rigorously prove that, in a specific energy range, it is a normally hyperbolic invariant manifold. The energy range is sufficiently wide that we can treat the effects of the index one and index two saddles on the isomerization dynamics in a unified fashion. We have computed reactive fluxes, mean gap times, and reactant phase space volumes for three stress values at several different energies. In all cases the phase space volume swept out by isomerizing trajectories is considerably less than the reactant density of states, proving that the dynamics is highly nonergodic. The associated gap time distributions consist of one or more "pulses" of trajectories. Computation of the reactive flux correlation function shows no sign of a plateau region; rather, the flux exhibits oscillatory decay, indicating that, for the two-mode model in the physical regime considered, a rate constant for isomerization does not exist.