von Neumann equation

Community: MathModDB

continuous-time expression

mathematical expression

Available identifiers

WikidataQ2533076 ScholiaQ2533076MaRDI QIDQ6534349

describes how a density operator (for pure or for mixed states) evolves in time, named after John von Neumann, Joseph Liouville

Also known as Quantum Liouville Equation, Liouville-von Neumann Equation

Description

Just as the Schrödinger equation describes how pure states evolve in time, the Liouville-von Neumann equation describes how a density operator evolves in time. Note that there can be different density operators for pure or for mixed states.Note the similarity with the classical Liouville equation where the commutator brackets [.,.] are replaced by Poisson brackets {.,.}

Defining Formula: $\frac{\partial \hat{\rho }}{\partial t}=-\frac{\mathrm{i}}{\hslash }[\hat{H},\hat{\rho }]$

$\hat{H}$ represents Hamiltonian operator

$\hat{\rho }$ represents quantum density operator

$\hslash$ represents reduced Planck constant

$t$ represents time

$\mathrm{i}$ represents imaginary unit

List of contained entities

quantum Hamiltonian (electric charge)	$H=H_0+q\varphi$
	$H_0$ represents Hamiltonian operator
	$\varphi$ represents electric potential
	$q$ represents electric charge
	$H$ represents quantum Hamiltonian (electric charge)
quantum Hamiltonian (electric dipole)	$H=H_0-\mu \cdot ℰ$
	$H$ represents quantum Hamiltonian (electric dipole)
	$H_0$ represents Hamiltonian operator
	$ℰ$ represents electric field
	$\mu$ represents electric dipole moment
quantum Hamiltonian (electric polarizability)	$H=H_0-\frac{1}{2}\alpha {ℰ}^2$
	$H$ represents Hamiltonian operator
	$H_0$ represents Hamiltonian operator
	$\alpha$ represents polarizability
	$ℰ$ represents electric field

Mathematical expressions specializing von Neumann equation

Liouville equation	assumes	classical approximation
Schrödinger equation (time dependent)	assumes	closed system approximation

Related URL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Density_matrix#Von_Neumann_equation_for_time_evolution

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