title: Quantum Smoluchowski equation for driven systems.
abstract: We consider a driven quantum harmonic oscillator strongly coupled to a heat bath. Starting from the exact quantum Langevin equation, we use a Green's function approach to determine the corresponding semiclassical equation for the Wigner phase space distribution. In the limit of high friction and high temperature, we apply Brinkman's method to derive the quantum Smoluchowski equation for the probability distribution in position space. We further determine the range of validity of the equation and discuss the special case of a Brownian parametric oscillator.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Augsburg, D-86135 Augsburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Raoul
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dillenschneider
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lutz