8.5: Dyson Series
- Page ID
- 1230
Let us now try to find approximate solutions of Equation \ref{749} for a general system. It is convenient to work in terms of the time evolution operator, \( U(t_0, t)\) , which is defined
Here, \( \vert A, t_0, t\rangle\) is the state ket of the system at time \( t\) , given that the state ket at the initial time \( t_0\) is \( \vert A\rangle\) . It is easily seen that the time evolution operator satisfies the differential equation
subject to the initial condition
In the absence of the external perturbation, the time evolution operator reduces to
Let us switch on the perturbation and look for a solution of the form
It is readily demonstrated that \( U_I\) satisfies the differential equation
where
subject to the initial condition
Note that \( U_I\) specifies that component of the time evolution operator which is due to the time-dependent perturbation. Thus, we would expect \( U_I\) to contain all of the information regarding transitions between different eigenstates of \( H_0\) caused by the perturbation.
Suppose that the system starts off at time \( t_0\) in the eigenstate \( \vert i\rangle\) of the unperturbed Hamiltonian. The subsequent evolution of the state ket is given by Equation \ref{744},
However, we also have
It follows that
where use has been made of \( \langle n\vert m \rangle = \delta_{n\,m}\) . Thus, the probability that the system is found in state \( \vert n\rangle\) at time \( t\) , given that it is definitely in state \( \vert i\rangle\) at time \( t_0\) , is simply
This quantity is usually termed the transition probability between states \( \vert i\rangle\) and \( \vert n\rangle\) .
Note that the differential equation \ref{782}, plus the initial condition \ref{784}, are equivalent to the following integral equation,
We can obtain an approximate solution to this equation by iteration:
This expansion is known as the Dyson series. Let
where the superscript \( ^{\ref{1}}\) refers to a first-order term in the expansion, etc. It follows from Equations \ref{787} and \ref{790} that
These expressions simplify to
where
and
The transition probability between states \( i\) and \( n\) is simply
According to the above analysis, there is no chance of a transition between states \( \vert i\rangle\) and \( \vert n\rangle\) (where \( i\neq n\) ) to zeroth order (i.e., in the absence of the perturbation). To first order, the transition probability is proportional to the time integral of the matrix element \( \langle n\vert\,H_1\,\vert i\rangle\) , weighted by some oscillatory phase-factor. Thus, if the matrix element is zero then there is no chance of a first-order transition between states \( \vert i\rangle\) and \( \vert n\rangle\) . However, to second order, a transition between states \( \vert i\rangle\) and \( \vert n\rangle\) is possible even when the matrix element \( \langle n\vert\,H_1\,\vert i\rangle\) is zero.
Contributors
Richard Fitzpatrick (Professor of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin)
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