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Dissipative effects arise in an electronic system when it interacts with a time-dependent environment. Here, the Schrödinger theory of electrons in an electromagnetic field including dissipative effects is described from a new perspective. Dissipation is accounted for via the effective Hamiltonian approach in which the electron mass is time-dependent. The perspective is that of the individual electron: the corresponding equation of motion for the electron or time-dependent differential virial theorem—the ‘Quantal Newtonian’ second law—is derived. According to the law, each electron experiences an external field comprised of a binding electric field, the Lorentz field, and the electromagnetic field. In addition, there is an internal field whose components are representative of electron correlations due to the Pauli exclusion principle and Coulomb repulsion, kinetic effects, and density. There is also an internal contribution due to the magnetic field. The response of the electron is governed by the current density field in which a damping coefficient appears. The law leads to further insights into Schrödinger theory, and in particular the intrinsic self-consistent nature of the Schrödinger equation. It is proved that in the presence of dissipative effects, the basic variables (gauge-invariant properties, knowledge of which determines the Hamiltonian) are the density and physical current density. Finally, a local effective potential theory of dissipative systems—quantal density functional theory (QDFT)—is developed. This constitutes the mapping from the interacting dissipative electronic system to one of noninteracting fermions possessing the same dissipation and basic variables. Attributes of QDFT are the separation of the electron correlations due to the Pauli exclusion principle and Coulomb repulsion, and the determination of the correlation contributions to the kinetic energy. Hence, Schrödinger theory in conjunction with QDFT leads to additional insights into the dissipative system. Full article

The Schrödinger theory of electrons in an external electromagnetic field is described from the new perspective of the individual electron. The perspective is arrived at via the time-dependent “Quantal Newtonian” law (or differential virial theorem). (The time-independent law, a special case, provides a similar description of stationary-state theory). These laws are in terms of “classical” fields whose sources are quantal expectations of Hermitian operators taken with respect to the wave function. The laws reveal the following physics: (a) in addition to the external field, each electron experiences an internal field whose components are representative of a specific property of the system such as the correlations due to the Pauli exclusion principle and Coulomb repulsion, the electron density, kinetic effects, and an internal magnetic field component. The response of the electron is described by the current density field; (b) the scalar potential energy of an electron is the work done in a conservative field. It is thus path-independent. The conservative field is the sum of the internal and Lorentz fields. Hence, the potential is inherently related to the properties of the system, and its constituent property-related components known. As the sources of the fields are functionals of the wave function, so are the respective fields, and, therefore, the scalar potential is a known functional of the wave function; (c) as such, the system Hamiltonian is a known functional of the wave function. This reveals the intrinsic self-consistent nature of the Schrödinger equation, thereby providing a path for the determination of the exact wave functions and energies of the system; (d) with the Schrödinger equation written in self-consistent form, the Hamiltonian now admits via the Lorentz field a new term that explicitly involves the external magnetic field. The new understandings are explicated for the stationary state case by application to two quantum dots in a magnetostatic field, one in a ground state and the other in an excited state. For the time-dependent case, the evolution of the same states of the quantum dots in both a magnetostatic and a time-dependent electric field is described. In each case, the satisfaction of the corresponding “Quantal Newtonian” law is demonstrated. Full article