Is Detailed Balance Satisfied in a Two-State System in Quantum Mechanics?

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on the concept of detailed balance in a two-state quantum system, specifically regarding transition rates for absorption and emission processes. It establishes that for states with energies ##E_i## and ##E_n## (where ##E_n > E_i##), the transition rates are equal: ##Γ_{i→n}=Γ_{n→i}=\frac {2π}{ħ}|V_{ni}|^2ρ(E_n-E_i)##. The condition for detailed balance is confirmed, as the equilibrium probability distribution follows the Boltzmann distribution, leading to the relationship ##Γ_{i \rightarrow n} e^{- \beta E_i} = Γ_{n \rightarrow i} e^{- \beta E_n}##. Thus, the transition rates satisfy the detailed balance condition.

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cozycoz
In quantum mechanics, I've learned that when there are incident photons with energy spectral density ##ρ(ω)## , two states system with ##E_i## and ##E_n## (##E_n > E_i##) goes through transition (absorption and emission) with transition rate Γ_{i→n}=Γ_{n→i}=\frac {2π}{ħ}|V_{ni}|^2ρ(E_n-E_i).Is this detailed balance,? Wikipedia says that detailed balance definition is that "At equilibrium, each elementary process should be equilibrated by its reverse process."
Actually when I calculate transition rates with two states system, it seems that both emission and absorption process always have the same transition rate. Can I refer this as detailed balance? Thanks
 
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The probability in a Markov process for a particular transition from eg. i to n is given by (transition rate i->n)*(probability of i), or ##\Gamma_{i \rightarrow n} P_i##. The detailed balance condition says that there is an equilibrium probability distribution ##\Pi_i## for the process (for instance a Boltzmann distribution) such that ##\Gamma_{i \rightarrow n} \Pi_i = \Gamma_{n \rightarrow i} \Pi_n##, ie. the transition probabilities and their reverse cancel each other for each pair of states i and n. Taking the Boltzmann distribution in particular, this means that ##\Gamma_{i \rightarrow n} e^{- \beta E_i} = \Gamma_{n \rightarrow i} e^{- \beta E_n}##.
 

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