Nonequilibrium Quantum Dynamics Group
Prof. Dr. Michael Thorwart
The Nonequilibrium Quantum Dynamics Group develops quantum statistical methods and models to describe the dynamics of open quantum systems. Thereby, "the" quantum system of interest includes those degrees of freedom which can be controlled from outside, while "the" environment represents the rest of the world. The environment produces fluctuations acting on the quantum system. They lead to decoherence and quantum relaxation or dissipation. The time evolution of the quantum system reveals valuable information about the system itself, but also about the nature of the quantum environment.
This generic physics is realized in many different fields and we are especially interested in
- quantum mechanical charge, spin and heat nonequilibrium transport in nanostructures and molecular electronics
- driven dissipative quantum systems
- excitonic energy transfer in biomolecular light-harvesting complexes
- cooperative effects in hybrid atom-optomechanical systems with ultracold quantum gases
- nonequilibrium quantum solvation effects and X-ray spectroscopy in liquids
- current- or spin-wave-driven noncollinear magnetic structures, such as Skyrmions or spin helices
- dissipative topological and anyonic systems.
We develop and use theoretical methods and models to describe nonequilibrium quantum statistical systems, such as
- quantum path integrals, such as the bosonic nonadiabatic propagator path integral (QUAPI) or the fermionic iterative summation of path integrals (ISPI)
- generalized quantum master equations and related Liouville space tools for bosons and fermions, including Floquet theory
- two-dimensional spectroscopy methods and dissipative EXAFS
- analytical Bogoliubov approaches and effective actions
- dielectric continuum models
- and generalized Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equations, combined with the Boltzmann equation.