Quantum Reports (May 2023)

Anomalous Relaxation and Three-Level System: A Fractional Schrödinger Equation Approach

  • Ervin K. Lenzi,
  • Enrique C. Gabrick,
  • Elaheh Sayari,
  • Antonio S. M. de Castro,
  • José Trobia,
  • Antonio M. Batista

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/quantum5020029
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5, no. 2
pp. 442 – 458

Abstract

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We investigate a three-level system in the context of the fractional Schrödinger equation by considering fractional differential operators in time and space, which promote anomalous relaxations and spreading of the wave packet. We first consider the three-level system omitting the kinetic term, i.e., taking into account only the transition among the levels, to analyze the effect of the fractional time derivative. Afterward, we incorporate a kinetic term and the fractional derivative in space to analyze simultaneous wave packet transition and spreading among the levels. For these cases, we obtain analytical and numerical solutions. Our results show a wide variety of behaviors connected to the fractional operators, such as the non-conservation of probability and the anomalous spread of the wave packet.

Keywords