TY - JOUR
T1 - Alternative derivation of the Hu-Paz-Zhang master equation of quantum Brownian motion
AU - Halliwell, J. J.
AU - Yu, T.
PY - 1996
Y1 - 1996
N2 - Hu, Paz, and Zhang [B. L. Hu, J. P. Paz, and Y. Zhang, Phys. Rev. D 45, 2843 (1992)] have derived an exact master equation for quantum Brownian motion in a general environment via path integral techniques. Their master equation provides a very useful tool to study the decoherence of a quantum system due to the interaction with its environment. In this paper, we give an alternative and elementary derivation of the Hu-Paz-Zhang master equation, which involves tracing the evolution equation for the Wigner function. We also discuss the master equation in some special cases.
AB - Hu, Paz, and Zhang [B. L. Hu, J. P. Paz, and Y. Zhang, Phys. Rev. D 45, 2843 (1992)] have derived an exact master equation for quantum Brownian motion in a general environment via path integral techniques. Their master equation provides a very useful tool to study the decoherence of a quantum system due to the interaction with its environment. In this paper, we give an alternative and elementary derivation of the Hu-Paz-Zhang master equation, which involves tracing the evolution equation for the Wigner function. We also discuss the master equation in some special cases.
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U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevD.53.2012
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevD.53.2012
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0000105451
SN - 1550-7998
VL - 53
SP - 2012
EP - 2019
JO - Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology
JF - Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology
IS - 4
ER -