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Strong-damping limit of quantum Brownian motion in a disordered environment

Arthur M. Faria1,2, Marcus V. S. Bonança1, and Eric Lutz2

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Phys. Rev. E 113, 044140 – Published 30 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/3nj5-hbdc

Abstract

We consider a microscopic model of an inhomogeneous environment where an arbitrary quantum system is locally coupled to a harmonic bath via a finite-range interaction. We show that in the overdamped regime the position distribution obeys a classical Kramers-Moyal equation that involves an infinite number of higher-order derivatives, implying that the finite bath correlation length leads to non-Gaussian Markovian noise. We analytically solve the equation for a harmonically bound particle and analyze its non-Gaussian diffusion as well as its steady-state properties.

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Phys. Rev. E 113, 044140– Published 30 April, 2026
  • Received 4 March 2025
  • Accepted 9 March 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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