Quantum Fermi's Golden Rule

Abstract

We shall revisit the conventional adiabatic or Markov approximation, showing its intrinsic failure in describing the proper quantum-mechanical evolution of a generic subsystem interacting with its environment. In particular, we shall show that -contrary to the semiclassical case- the Markov limit does not preserve the positive-definite character of the corresponding density matrix, thus leading to highly non-physical results. To overcome this problem, we shall propose an alternative adiabatic procedure which (i) in the semiclassical limit reduces to the standard Fermi's golden rule, and (ii) describes a genuine Limblad evolution, thus providing a reliable/robust treatment of energy-dissipation and dephasing processes.

submitted to Physical Review Letters