Landau Zener transitions in a dissipative environment: Numerically exact results

TL;DR

This paper investigates Landau-Zener transitions in dissipative environments using a numerically exact method, revealing a nonmonotonic transition probability dependence on sweep velocity due to relaxation dynamics.

Contribution

It introduces a numerically exact approach to study dissipative Landau-Zener transitions across all parameter regimes, uncovering phenomena missed by perturbative methods.

Findings

Transition probability shows nonmonotonic dependence on sweep velocity.

Relaxation and external sweep compete, affecting transition outcomes.

Phenomenological model explains the nonmonotonic behavior.

Abstract

We study Landau-Zener transitions in a dissipative environment by means of the numerically exact quasiadiabatic propagator path-integral. It allows to cover the full range of the involved parameters. We discover a nonmonotonic dependence of the transition probability on the sweep velocity which is explained in terms of a simple phenomenological model. This feature, not captured by perturbative approaches, results from a nontrivial competition between relaxation and the external sweep.