In the framework of Non-Equilibrium Field Theory, I will construct the effective influence functional — generator of non-equilibrium correlation functions — for a mechanical system with degrees of freedom living on a group (e.g. rigid body) interacting with a thermal bath at high temperature. I will derive the constraints on the influence functional following from the group symmetry structure and the DKMS symmetry — generalization of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. At the linear response level, group symmetry turns out to impose more constraints compared to DKMS. I will illustrate the general formalism with the diffusion in a Fermi gas and exhibit the large-N suppression of the non-linear response. Finally, I will introduce the Universal Bath — the generalization of the Caldeira-Leggett model. It is a dual field theory defined in one extra dimension that reproduces the classical non-equilibrium dynamics of the mechanical system. I will show that in the limit of Ohmic dissipation, when the temperature becomes the only relevant scale at play, the Universal Bath also reproduces the quantum corrections.
Asimina Arvanitaki, Marco Costa