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This is another question that extends my previous question A Problem on Tunneling in Dissipative Environment. In order to figure my first question out (which I still haven't) I am reading the section in Chapter 3 in Condensed Matter Field Theory that is titles "Tunneling in a Dissipative Environment". Essentially, I am trying to understand the formulae presented in this section.

The environment is assumed to be a bath of quantum mechanical oscillators and so its action is

$S_{bath}[q_\alpha] = \int_{0}^t dt' \sum_{\alpha} \frac{m_\alpha}{2}\bigg(\dot{q_\alpha}^2 - \omega_\alpha^2 q_\alpha^2 \bigg)$.

The action of the coupling is

$S_c[q,q_\alpha] = - \int_{0}^t dt' \bigg(\sum_{\alpha}f_\alpha[q]q_\alpha + \sum_{a}\frac{f_\alpha[q]^2}{2m_a \omega_a^2} \bigg)$

The survival probability is given by $\langle a| e^{-i\hat{H}t/\hbar}| a \rangle = \int Dq e^{iS_{part}[q]}\int D{q_\alpha}e^{iS_{bath}+ iS_c}$.

The text then claims that we can write the survival probability as $\int Dq e^{-S_{eff}[q]}$, where $S_{eff}[q] = S_{part}[q] + \frac{1}{2T}\sum_{\omega_n,\alpha} \frac{\omega_n^2 f_\alpha[q(\omega_n)] f_\alpha[-q(\omega_n)]}{m_\alpha \omega_\alpha^2(\omega_\alpha)^2 + \omega_n^2}$; here $\omega_n = 2\pi nT$.

Can someone explain how one gets the last result? I tried using the formula $\int Dq e^{-F[q]} \approx \sum_{i}e^{-F[x_i]}\bigg[det(\hat{A}/2pi) \bigg]^{-1/2}$ but to no avail. Here A(t,t') is the second functional derivative of $F[x]$ evaluated at $F[x]$'s roots $x_i$

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First, I think there is a typo in the book: the $a$'s should be $\alpha$'s in the second term of $S_c$. Otherwise, those quantities are just out of place.

Start by focusing on a single $q_\alpha$. Your bath action and the coupling bit for a single $q_\alpha$ is $$ S_\alpha = \int_0^t dt'\frac{m_\alpha}{2}\left[\dot{q}_\alpha^2(t') - \omega^2_\alpha q_\alpha^2(t')\right] - f_\alpha(t') q_\alpha(t')\,. $$ Note that we explicitly included the $t'$ in the expression for book-keeping.

We want to integrate $$ \int Dq_\alpha \,e^{iS_\alpha}\,. $$ There are a few ways to go from here. I would prefer to keep everything in the time domain, but A&S are smart, so let's follow their approach! First, we do $t \rightarrow - i\tau$. This means that $dt' \rightarrow -i d\tau'$ and $dq_\alpha /dt\rightarrow idq_\alpha/d\tau$. This gives $$ S_\alpha = -i\int_0^\tau d\tau'\frac{m_\alpha}{2}\left[-\dot{q}_\alpha^2(\tau') - \omega^2_\alpha q_\alpha^2(\tau')\right] - f_\alpha(\tau') q_\alpha(\tau')\,. $$

Setting the upper integration limit to $\beta$, we have $$ S_\alpha = i\int_0^\beta d\tau'\frac{m_\alpha}{2}\left[\dot{q}_\alpha^2(\tau') + \omega^2_\alpha q_\alpha^2(\tau')\right] + f_\alpha(\tau') q_\alpha(\tau')\,. $$

Because we assume that $q_\alpha(0) = q_\alpha(\tau)$, we can integrate the first term by parts to get $$ S_\alpha = i\int_0^\beta d\tau'\frac{m_\alpha}{2}\left[-q_\alpha(\tau')\ddot{q}_\alpha(\tau') + \omega^2_\alpha q_\alpha^2(\tau')\right] + f_\alpha(\tau') q_\alpha(\tau')\,. $$

Using $q_\alpha(\tau') = \sum_n q_\alpha(\omega_n)e^{i\omega_n\tau} $ and $\ddot{q}_\alpha(\tau') = -\sum_n \omega_n^2q_\alpha(\omega_n)e^{i\omega_n\tau} $, we get $$ S_\alpha = i\int_0^\beta d\tau'\frac{m_\alpha}{2}\sum_{nn'}\left[\omega_n^2 + \omega^2_\alpha \right] q_\alpha(\omega_n)e^{i\omega_n\tau'}q_\alpha(\omega_{n'})e^{i\omega_{n'}\tau'} +i\int_0^\beta d\tau' f_\alpha(\tau') \sum_n q_\alpha(\omega_n)e^{i\omega_n\tau'} \\ = i\beta\frac{m_\alpha}{2}\sum_{nn'}\left(\omega_n^2 + \omega^2_\alpha \right) q_\alpha(\omega_n)q_\alpha(\omega_{n'})\delta_{n,-n'} +\frac{i}{T} \sum_n f_\alpha(-\omega_n) q_\alpha(\omega_n) \\ = i\beta\frac{m_\alpha}{2}\sum_{n}\left(\omega_n^2 + \omega^2_\alpha \right) q_\alpha(\omega_n)q_\alpha(-\omega_{n}) +\frac{i}{T} \sum_n f_\alpha(-\omega_n) q_\alpha(\omega_n) \,. $$

OK, almost there. To make the integrals nicer, we write $$ S_\alpha = i\beta\frac{m_\alpha}{2}\sum_{n>0}\left(\omega_n^2 + \omega^2_\alpha \right) \left[q_\alpha(\omega_n)q_\alpha(-\omega_{n})+q_\alpha(-\omega_n)q_\alpha(\omega_{n})\right] +\frac{i}{T} \sum_{n>0} f_\alpha(-\omega_n) q_\alpha(\omega_n)+f_\alpha(\omega_n) q_\alpha(-\omega_n) \\ = i\sum_{n>0} \begin{pmatrix} q_\alpha(\omega_n) & q_\alpha(-\omega_n) \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix} 0&\frac{\beta m_\alpha}{2}(\omega_n^2 + \omega_\alpha^2) \\ \frac{\beta m_\alpha}{2}(\omega_n^2 + \omega_\alpha^2)&0 \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix} q_\alpha(\omega_n) \\ q_\alpha(-\omega_n) \end{pmatrix} + \frac{1}{T}\begin{pmatrix} f_\alpha(\omega_n) & f_\alpha(-\omega_n) \end{pmatrix} \begin{pmatrix} q_\alpha(\omega_n) \\ q_\alpha(-\omega_n) \end{pmatrix} \\ = i\sum_{n>0} \frac{1}{2}\mathbf{q}_{n\alpha}^T \begin{pmatrix} 0&W_n \\ W_n&0 \end{pmatrix} \mathbf{q}_{n\alpha} + \begin{pmatrix} f_\alpha(\omega_n)/T & f_\alpha(-\omega_n)/T \end{pmatrix} \mathbf{q}_{n\alpha}\,. $$ This looks like a regular Gaussian integral. Exponentiating $iS_\alpha$ and integrating over $\mathbf{q}_{n\alpha}$ gives something divergent. However, the stuff inside the exponential is OK and that's what we care about: $$ N\prod_{n>0} \exp\left[ \frac{f(-\omega_n)f(\omega_n)}{T^2W_n}\right]=N\prod_{n>0} \exp\left[ \frac{f(-\omega_n)f(\omega_n)}{Tm_\alpha(\omega_n^2+\omega_\alpha^2)}\right] =N \exp\left[\sum_n \frac{ f(-\omega_n)f(\omega_n)}{2Tm_\alpha(\omega_n^2+\omega_\alpha^2)}\right]\,. $$

To get the expression in the book, take the second part of $S_c$, Fourier transform it and add it to the stuff inside the exponential. Finally, multiply the contributions from all the $\alpha$'s together.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thank you!! Brilliant answer!! $\endgroup$
    – user261609
    Commented Jul 18, 2021 at 11:06
  • $\begingroup$ Happy to help!! $\endgroup$
    – IcyOtter
    Commented Aug 5, 2021 at 4:27

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