Physics Colloqium, M.S thesis presentation, "Mori Projected Dynamics On a Quantum System", by Rachel Nasto, WPI Physics Department Graduate Student

Science / Technology - Colloquium

Thursday, April 26, 2007
4:00 PM-5:00 PM

Olin Hall
107

In this thesis we discuss Mori Projected Time Dynamics in a quantum mechanical system. As a
precursor to calculating the time derivative of a mixed state of the system we examine the derivation
of the Mori-Zwanzig formalism. We consider the exact calculation of the time derivative of a mixed
state. We then calculate the same time evolution using Mori Theory and compare the two results.
From the general calculation of the Mori Equation we were able to perform a series of simple tests
to compare Mori Theory to the known result. We discovered that in each of the four simple cases
the Mori Equation and the direct calculation of the time evolution give the same result, but in the
more complicated situations the two calculations differed. This result leads us to believe that the
Mori Equation is an accurate way of calculating the derivative of a mechanical variable in a quantum
system.

Cost: free

Suggested Audiences: College

E-mail: snj@wpi.edu
Phone: 508-949-0782

Last Modified: April 23, 2007 at 4:18 PM

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