Quantum phase-space function formulation of reactive flux theory

On the basis of a coherent-state representation of the quantum noise operator and an ensemble averaging procedure a scheme for quantum Brownian motion has been proposed recently [Banerjee , Phys. Rev. E 65, 021109 (2002); 66, 051105 (2002)]. We extend this approach to formulate reactive flux theory in terms of quantum phase space distribution functions and to derive a time-dependent quantum transmission coefficient-a quantum analog of the classical Kramers-Grote-Hynes coefficient in the spirit of Kohen and Tannor's classical formulation. The theory is valid for arbitrary noise correlation and temperature. The specific forms of this coefficient in the Markovian as well as in the non-Markovian limits have been worked out in detail for the intermediate to strong damping regimes with an analysis of quantum effects. While the classical transmission coefficient is independent of temperature, its quantum counterpart has significant temperature dependence particularly in the low-temperature regime. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.