Quantum dissipation and decay in a medium

I. Joichi, Sh Matsumoto, M. Yoshimura

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Quantum dissipation in a thermal environment is investigated, using the path-integral approach. The reduced density matrix of the harmonic oscillator system coupled to a thermal bath of oscillators is derived for an arbitrary spectrum of bath oscillators. Time evolution and the end point of the two-body decay of unstable particles are then elucidated: After early transient times unstable particles undergo the exponential decay, followed by the power-law decay and finally ending in a mixed state of residual particles containing contributions from both on and off the mass shell, whose abundance does not suffer from the Boltzmann suppression.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)798-805
Number of pages8
JournalPhysical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
Volume57
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1998
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

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