Quantum Brownian Motion for Magnets

Abstract: Spin precession in magnetic materials is commonly modelled with the classical phenomenological Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation. Based on a quantized spin+environment Hamiltonian, we here derive a general spin operator equation of motion that describes three-dimensional precession and damping and consistently accounts for effects arising from memory, coloured noise and quantum statistics. The LLG equation is recovered as its classical, Ohmic approximation. We further introduce resonant Lorentzian system--reservoir couplings that allow a systematic comparison of dynamics between Ohmic and non--Ohmic regimes. Finally, we simulate the full non-Markovian dynamics of a spin in the semi--classical limit. At low temperatures, our numerical results demonstrate a characteristic reduction and flattening of the steady state spin alignment with an external field, caused by the quantum statistics of the environment. The results provide a powerful framework to explore general three-dimensional dissipation in quantum thermodynamics.