Expectation value based equation-of-motion approach for open quantum systems: A general formalism

We present a new method to formulate equations of motion for open quantum many-particle systems. Our approach allows for a numerically exact treatment as well as for approximations necessary in large systems and can be applied to systems involving both bosonic and fermionic particles. The method generalizes the cluster expansion technique by using expectation values instead of correlation functions. The use of expectation values not only makes the equations more transparent but also considerably reduces the amount of algebraic effort to derive the equations. The proposed formulation offers a unified view on various approximation techniques presented recently in the literature. The microscopic semiconductor model for quantum-dot-based microcavity lasers is extended to higher-order photon-autocorrelation functions and the validity of the cluster expansion is shown for this system. We study photon-autocorrelation functions up to fifth order and monitor the onset of lasing in quantum-dot-based microcavity lasers. We observe a successive vanishing of photon bunching in the higher-order photon-autocorrelation functions with increasing pump rates. Our results reveal that the laser threshold is not only softened in microcavity laser systems but is centered around different pump rates with respect to the photon-autocorrelation functions.