[Physics] Time-dependent Hamiltonian and the Liouville-von Neumann equation

density-operatorhamiltonian-formalismquantum mechanics

If I have a quantum system described by a time-independent Hamiltonian $\hat{H}$, then the Liouville-von Neumann equation is

\begin{align}
i\hbar\frac{\partial\hat{\rho}}{\partial t}=[\hat{H},\hat{\rho}]\,,
\end{align}

where $\hat{\rho}$ is the density matrix. What happens if the Hamiltonian is explicitly time-dependent, such that $\hat{H}=\hat{H}(t)$? Is the Liouville-von Neumann equation the same?

Best Answer

If the Hamiltonian is time-dependent the evolution of a pure state is $$ |\psi(t)\rangle = {\mathcal T} exp\left[ -\frac{i}{\hbar} \int_{t_0}^t d\tau H(\tau)\right] |\psi(0)\rangle = U(t; t_0) |\psi(0)\rangle $$ where $\mathcal T$ is the time-ordering operator and $$ i\hbar\dot{U} = H(t) U(t, t_0) $$ Then a density matrix evolves according to $$ \rho(t) = U(t; t_0) \rho(0) U^\dagger (t; t_0) $$ and you can check that taking the time derivative gives $$ i\hbar\dot{\rho} = \left[ H(t), \rho(t)\right] $$

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