Stochastic Bohmian and Scaled Trajectories

TL;DR

This paper reviews how Bohmian trajectories can be used to understand decoherence and quantum-classical transition in open quantum systems, illustrating the concepts with various examples and emphasizing an intuitive, trajectory-based perspective.

Contribution

It introduces a unified trajectory-based framework for analyzing decoherence and quantum transitions in open systems using scaled Bohmian trajectories.

Findings

Decoherence processes can be effectively visualized through Bohmian trajectories.

The quantum-classical transition is governed by a continuous parameter, the transition parameter.

Examples demonstrate the application of trajectory methods to diffusion, tunneling, and stochastic effects.

Abstract

In this review we deal with open (dissipative and stochastic) quantum systems within the Bohmian mechanics framework which has the advantage to provide a clear picture of quantum phenomena in terms of trajectories, originally in configuration space. The gradual decoherence process is studied from linear and nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations through Bohmian trajectories as well as by using the so-called quantum-classical transition differential equation through scaled trajectories. This transition is governed by a continuous parameter, the transition parameter, covering these two extreme open dynamical regimes. Thus, two sources of decoherence of different nature are going to be considered. Several examples will be presented and discussed in order to illustrate the corresponding theory behind each case, namely: the so-called Brownian-Bohmian motion leading to quantum diffusion coefficients, dissipative diffraction in time, dissipative tunnelling for a parabolic barrier under the presence of an electric field and stochastic early arrivals for the same type of barrier. In order to simplify the notations and physical discussion, the theoretical developments will be carried out in one dimension throughout all this wok. One of the main goals is to analyze the gradual decoherence process existing in these open dynamical regimes in terms of trajectories, leading to a more intuitive way of understanding the underlying physics in order to gain new insights.