A hybrid hydrodynamic-Liouvillian approach to mixed quantum-classical dynamics: application to tunneling in a double...

The hybrid quantum-classical approach of Burghardt and Parlant [Burghardt, I.; Parlant, G. J. Chem. Phys. 2004, 120, 3055], referred to here as the quantum-classical moment (QCM) approach, is demonstrated for the dynamics of a quantum double well coupled to a classical harmonic coordinate. The approach combines the quantum hydrodynamic and classical Liouvillian representations by the construction of a particular type of moments (that is, partial hydrodynamic moments) whose evolution is determined by a hierarchy of coupled equations. For pure states, which are at the center of the present study, this hierarchy terminates at the first order. In the Lagrangian picture, the deterministic trajectories result in dynamics which is Hamiltonian in the classical subspace, while the projection onto the quantum subspace evolves under a generalized hydrodynamic force. Importantly, this force also depends upon the classical (Q, P) variables. The present application demonstrates the tunneling dynamics in both the Eulerian and Lagrangian representations. The method is exact if the classical subspace is harmonic, as is the case for the systems studied here.