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Density matrix methods for semiconductor Coulomb dynamics
Author(s) -
Dufty James W.,
Kim Chang Sub,
Bonitz Michael,
Binder Rolf
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
international journal of quantum chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.484
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-461X
pISSN - 0020-7608
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-461x(1997)65:5<929::aid-qua56>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - density matrix , statistical physics , coulomb , hierarchy , relaxation (psychology) , matrix (chemical analysis) , scattering , semiconductor , polarization (electrochemistry) , physics , quantum , quantum mechanics , chemistry , electron , psychology , social psychology , chromatography , economics , market economy
Current experiments on semiconductor devices using femtosecond lasers provide new theoretical challenges for the description of charge carrier dynamics. Among the new features of such experiments are states driven very far from equilibrium and probes on time scales short compared to scattering and other characteristic material relaxation times. Standard many‐body methods must be modified and extended to accommodate these features. We propose that the quantum hierarchy for reduced density operators is an ideal formulation of such initial value problems and describe how the dominant effects of exchange and charge correlations can be accounted for in a simple and physically transparent closure of the hierarchy of equations. The transformations, approximations, and interpretation can be accomplished independent of any particular matrix representation. Decomposition into kinetic equations for band occupation densities and polarization densities follows in a straightforward way after the many‐body problem has been brought under control. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 65 : 929–940, 1997