Title | Flight of a heavy particle nonlinearly coupled to a quantum bath |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2016 |
Authors | M. F. Maghrebi, M. Krueger, and M. Kardar |
Journal | PHYSICAL REVIEW B |
Volume | 93 |
Pagination | 014309 |
Date Published | JAN 28 |
ISSN | 2469-9950 |
Abstract | Fluctuation and dissipation are byproducts of coupling to the ``environment.{''} The Caldeira-Leggett model, a successful paradigm of quantum Brownian motion, views the environment as a collection of harmonic oscillators linearly coupled to the system. However, symmetry considerations may forbid a linear coupling, e.g., for a neutral particle in quantum electrodynamics. We argue that the absence of linear couplings can lead to a fundamentally different behavior. Specifically, we consider a heavy particle quadratically coupled to quantum fluctuations of the bath. In one dimension the particle undergoes anomalous diffusion, unfolding as a power-law distribution in space, reminiscent of Levy flights. We suggest condensed matter analogs where similar effects may arise. |
DOI | 10.1103/PhysRevB.93.014309 |