Time inversion in dynamical systems. (Q1426409)

In [Ann. Phys. 302, No. 2, 142--157 (2002; Zbl 1014.81065)] the first author introduced the concept of a generalized entropy function, and he showed that a Lyapunov function for the evolution is provided by the entropy function since it changes monotonically with time. While, in the authors' previous work [Phys. Rev. A 67, 032111 (2003)], they showed that the case of real eigenvalues describing the damping (being a special case of pseudo-Hermiticity) is the case in an open two-level system coherently driven by external fields. In this paper the authors try to extend E. P. Wigner's theory on ordinary quantum states to the case of open dynamical system. To this aim, the time reversed quantum state need to be considered together with the ordinary solution. This paper treats the case of a dynamical system when the time evolution is generated by a non-Hermitian superoperator on the states of the system. In the theoretical description of dynamics, the use of variational principles plays a central role. On the assumption that the left and right eigenvalues of the operator provide complete basis sets, the authors propose and employ a generalized scalar product to construct a generalized entropy which changes monotonically the functional of the state. Then the operation of time inversion can be defined in combination with the time-dependent and time-reversed states even in the case of irreversible evolution. Moreover, it is observed that the work generalizes the quantum treatment from the unitary case to the irreversible one. One of the key points consists in that the authors impose the validity of a variational functional for the evolution so that the time reversed state may be defined uniquely. Finally, some consequences of the theoretical results are also presented. As to the general theory of open systems, see \textit{H. P. Breuer} and \textit{F. Petruccione} [The theory of open quantum systems, Oxford: Oxford University Press (2002; Zbl 1053.81001)].