5.3: The Density Matrix in the Interaction Picture
- Page ID
- 107240
\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)
\( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)
\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)
( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)
\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)
\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)
\( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\)
\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)
\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\)
\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)
\( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)
\( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)
\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\)
\( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)
\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\)
\( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)
\( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\)
\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)
\( \newcommand{\vectorA}[1]{\vec{#1}} % arrow\)
\( \newcommand{\vectorAt}[1]{\vec{\text{#1}}} % arrow\)
\( \newcommand{\vectorB}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)
\( \newcommand{\vectorC}[1]{\textbf{#1}} \)
\( \newcommand{\vectorD}[1]{\overrightarrow{#1}} \)
\( \newcommand{\vectorDt}[1]{\overrightarrow{\text{#1}}} \)
\( \newcommand{\vectE}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash{\mathbf {#1}}}} \)
\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)
\( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)
\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)For the case in which we wish to describe a material Hamiltonian \(H_0\) under the influence of an external potential \(V(t)\),
\[H (t) = H _ {0} + V (t) \label{4.21}\]
we can also formulate the density operator in the interaction picture, \(\rho_I\). From our original definition of the interaction picture wavefunctions
\[| \psi _ {I} \rangle = U _ {0}^{\dagger} | \psi _ {S} \rangle \label{4.22}\]
We obtain \(\rho_I\) as
\[\rho _ {I} = U _ {0}^{\dagger} \rho _ {S} U _ {0} \label{4.23}\]
Similar to the discussion of the density operator in the Schrödinger equation, above, the equation of motion in the interaction picture is
\[\dfrac {\partial \rho _ {I}} {\partial t} = - \dfrac {i} {\hbar} \left[ V _ {I} (t) , \rho _ {I} (t) \right] \label{4.24}\]
where, as before, \(V _ {I} = U _ {0}^{\dagger} V U _ {0}\).
Equation \ref{4.24} can be integrated to obtain
\[\rho _ {I} (t) = \rho _ {I} \left( t _ {0} \right) - \dfrac {i} {\hbar} \int _ {t _ {0}}^{t} d t^{\prime} \left[ V _ {I} \left( t^{\prime} \right) , \rho _ {I} \left( t^{\prime} \right) \right] \label{4.25}\]
Repeated substitution of \(\rho _ {I} (t)\) into itself in this expression gives a perturbation series expansion
\[.\begin{align} \rho _ {I} (t) &= \rho _ {0} - \dfrac {i} {\hbar} \int _ {t _ {0}}^{t} d t _ {2} \left[ V _ {I} \left( t _ {1} \right) , \rho _ {0} \right] \\[4pt] & + \left( - \dfrac {i} {\hbar} \right) \int _ {t _ {0}}^{t} d t _ {2} \int _ {t _ {0}}^{t _ {2}} d t _ {1} \left[ V _ {I} \left( t _ {2} \right) , \left[ V _ {I} \left( t _ {1} \right) , \rho _ {0} \right] \right] + \cdots \\[4pt] & + \left( - \dfrac {i} {\hbar} \right)^{n} \int _ {t _ {0}}^{t} d t _ {n} \int _ {t _ {0}}^{t _ {n}} d t _ {n - 1} \cdots \int _ {t _ {0}}^{t _ {2}} d t _ {1} \left[ V _ {I} \left( t _ {n} \right) , \left[ V _ {I} \left( t _ {n-1} \right) , \cdots \left[ V _ {I} \left( t _ {1} \right), \rho _ {0} \right] \right] \right] \label{4.26} \\[4pt] &= \rho^{( 0 )} + \rho^{( 1 )} + \rho^{( 2 )} + \cdots + \rho^{( n )} + \cdots \label{4.27} \end{align}\]
Here \(\rho _ {0} = \rho \left( t _ {0} \right)\) and \(\rho^{( n )}\) is the nth-order expansion of the density matrix. This perturbative expansion will play an important role later in the description of nonlinear spectroscopy. An nth order expansion term will be proportional to the observed polarization in an nth-order nonlinear spectroscopy, and the commutators observed in Equation \ref{4.26} are closely related to nonlinear response functions. Equation \ref{4.26} can also be expressed as
\[\rho _ {I} (t) = U _ {0} \rho _ {I} ( 0 ) U _ {0}^{\dagger} \label{4.28}\]
This is the solution to the Liouville equation in the interaction picture.