Single-particle approach to many-body relaxation dynamics

Published

February 26, 2024

Author(s)

Garnett W. Bryant, Marta Pelc, David Dams, Abhishek Ghosh, Miriam Kosik, Marvin Muller, Carsten Rockstuhl, Andres Ayuela, Karolina Slowik

Abstract

This study addresses the challenge of modeling relaxation dynamics in quantum many-body systems, specifically focusing on electrons in graphene nanoflakes. While quantum many-body techniques effectively describe dynamics up to a few particles, these approaches become computationally intractable for large systems. Larger systems may be tackled with a single-particle approach that, however, struggles to incorporate relaxation effects. Existing relaxation models encounter issues such as an inability to capture system complexity and violation of the Pauli principle. In this work, we propose a novel single-particle model that accounts for various relaxation effects at the crossroads of quantum optics and solid-state photonics, that overcomes the limitations of previous models. Our approach is rooted in the quantum-optical Lindblad model, where relaxation rates are deactivated once the target levels saturate due to the Pauli principle. This approach is referred to as the saturated-Lindblad model. To validate the predictions of the saturated-Lindblad model, we confront them against phenomenological and many-body physics models in low-dimensional systems, including atomic chains and graphene nanoflakes. Remarkably, the saturated-Lindblad model exhibits excellent agreement with few-body calculations, distinguishing itself from other existing approaches. Moreover, by assigning different relaxation rates to different transitions, we successfully reproduce cascade de-excitation dynamics and predict emission spectra. The saturated-Lindblad model offers the ability to describe dynamics in systems of practical sizes, encompassing a wide range of structures that can be effectively captured within the single-particle description.

Citation

Physical Review A

Volume

109

Issue

2

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.109.022237

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Keywords

relaxation dynamics, many-body systems, Lindblad model, emission

Citation

Bryant, G. , Pelc, M. , Dams, D. , Ghosh, A. , Kosik, M. , Muller, M. , Rockstuhl, C. , Ayuela, A. and Slowik, K. (2024), Single-particle approach to many-body relaxation dynamics, Physical Review A, [online], https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.109.022237, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=957215 (Accessed October 9, 2025)