Equilibration and macroscopic quantum fluctuations in the Dicke model
Alexander Altland, Fritz Haake · New Journal of Physics · 2012
We discuss the unitary quantum dynamics of the Dicke model (spin and oscillator coupled). A suitable quasi-probability representing the quantum state turns out to obey a Fokker–Planck equation, with drift terms representing the underlying classical Hamiltonian flow and diffusion terms describing quantum fluctuations. We show (by projecting the dynamics onto a co-moving Poincaré section) how the interplay of deterministic drift and quantum diffusion generates equilibration to the microcanonical density, under conditions of global classical chaos. The pertinent photon statistics reveals macroscopic quantum fluctuations.