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Quantum theory of the damped harmonic oscillator

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Zeitschrift für Physik B Condensed Matter

Abstract

A phenomenological stochastic modelling of the process of thermal and quantal fluctuations of a damped harmonic oscillator is presented. The divergence of the momentum dispersion associated with the Markovian limit is removed by a Drude regularization. The variances of position and momentum are evaluated in closed form at arbitrary temperature and for arbitrary damping. Properties of real and imaginary time correlation functions are discussed, and a spectral decomposition of the equilibrium density matrix is given.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57/III, D-7000, Stuttgart 80, Germany

    Hermann Grabert & Ulrich Weiss

  2. Institut für Physik, Universität Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland

    Peter Talkner

Authors
  1. Hermann Grabert
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  2. Ulrich Weiss
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  3. Peter Talkner
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Grabert, H., Weiss, U. & Talkner, P. Quantum theory of the damped harmonic oscillator. Z. Physik B - Condensed Matter 55, 87–94 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01307505

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01307505

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