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arXiv:1109.0147 · Physical Review A

Decoherence and the nature of system-environment correlations

A. Pernice, Walter T. Strunz

Published Dec 27, 2011• 49 citations
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Abstract

We investigate system-environment correlations based on the exact dynamics of a qubit and its environment in the framework of pure decoherence (phase damping). We focus on the relation of decoherence and the buildup of system-reservoir entanglement for an arbitrary (possibly mixed) initial qubit state. In the commonly employed regime where the qubit dynamics can be described by a Markov master equation of the Lindblad type, we find that for almost all qubit initial states inside the Bloch sphere, decoherence is complete while the total state is still separable---no entanglement is involved. In general, both ``separable'' and ``entangling'' decoherence occurs, depending on the temperature and initial qubit state. Moreover, we find situations where classical and quantum correlations periodically alternate as a function of time in the regime of low temperatures.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.84.062121

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We investigate system-environment correlations based on the exact dynamics of a qubit and its environment in the framework of pure decoherence (phase damping). We focus on the relation of decoherence and the buildup of system-reservoir entanglement for an arbitrary (possibly mixed) initial qubit state. In the commonly employed regime where the qubit dynamics can be described by a Markov master equation of the Lindblad type, we find that for almost all qubit initial states inside the Bloch sphere, decoherence is complete while the total state is still separable---no entanglement is involved. In general, both separable'' and entangling'' decoherence occurs, depending on the temperature and initial qubit state. Moreover, we find situations where classical and quantum correlations periodically alternate as a function of time in the regime of low temperatures.
We examine the system-reservoir dynamics of classical and quantum correlations in the decoherence phenomenon within a two-qubit composite system interacting with two independent environments. The most common noise channels (amplitude damping, phase damping, bit flip, bit-phase flip, and phase flip) are analyzed. By analytical and numerical analyses we find that, contrary to what is usually stated in the literature, decoherence may occur without entanglement between the system and the environment. We also show that, in some cases, the bipartite quantum correlation initially present in the system is completely evaporated and not transferred to the environments.
Based on the exact dynamics of a two-qubit system and environment, we investigate system-environment (SE) quantum and classical correlations. The coupling is chosen to represent a dephasing channel for one of the qubits and the environment is a proper thermal bath. First we discuss the general issue of dilation for qubit phase damping. Based on the usual thermal bath of harmonic oscillators, we derive criteria of separability and entanglement between an initial XXX state and the environment. Applying these criteria to initial Werner states, we find that entanglement between the system and environment is built up in time for temperatures below a certain critical temperature Tcrit{T}_{\mathrm{crit}}Tcrit​. On the other hand, the total state remains separable during those short times that are relevant for decoherence and loss of entanglement in the two-qubit state. Close to Tcrit{T}_{\mathrm{crit}}Tcrit​ the SE correlations oscillate between separable and entangled. Even though these oscillations are also observed in the entanglement between the two qubits, no simple relation between the loss of entanglement in the two-qubit system and the build-up of entanglement between the system and environment is found.
In this Thesis I discuss the exact dynamics of simple non-Markovian systems. I focus on fundamental questions at the core of non-Markovian theory and investigate the dynamics of quantum correlations under non-Markovian decoherence. \n \nIn the first context I present the connection between two different non-Markovian approaches, and compare two distinct definitions of non-Markovianity. The general aim is to characterize in exemplary cases which part of the environment is responsible for the feedback of information typical of non- Markovian dynamics. I also show how such a feedback of information is not always described by certain types of master equations commonly used to tackle non-Markovian dynamics. \n \nIn the second context I characterize the dynamics of two qubits in a common non-Markovian reservoir, and introduce a new dynamical effect in a wellknown model, i.e., two qubits under depolarizing channels. In the first model the exact solution of the dynamics is found, and the entanglement behavior is extensively studied. The non-Markovianity of the reservoir and reservoirmediated-interaction between the qubits cause non-trivial dynamical features. \n \nThe dynamical interplay between different types of correlations is also investigated. In the second model the study of quantum and classical correlations demonstrates the existence of a new effect: the sudden transition between classical and quantum decoherence. This phenomenon involves the complete preservation of the initial quantum correlations for long intervals of time of the order of the relaxation time of the system.
Decoherence of qubits is one main limitation in quantum information processing, where the qubits themselves can be mixed because of decoherence and additional decoherence may generated through interactions with a bath. Here, we present a complete study of qubit-environment entanglement in the case of interactions that lead to pure dephasing of the qubit by allowing the initial state of the qubit to be mixed, exceeding previous restrictions. We find that the criteria for separability that hold for pure initial states of the qubit are reduced to witness status. Yet, the evolution of the witnesses reflects the array of features that entanglement can exhibit in the mixed case but are forbidden in the pure-qubit case. Most notably, this includes sudden birth of entanglement as the initial phase of the evolution is typically separable. Moreover, there is a stark numerical advantage to the study of entanglement for large environments when using the witness rather than the traditional measures available. We include the study of entanglement generated between a spin qubit and a sparse spin environment to illustrate the peculiarities of the evolution of entanglement in this case, as well as to emphasize the level of reliability of the entanglement witness.
We show that the methods for quantification of system-environment entanglement that were recently developed for interactions that lead to pure decoherence of the system can be straightforwardly generalized to time-dependent Hamiltonians of the same type. This includes the if-and-only-if criteria of separability, as well as the entanglement measure applicable to qubit systems, and methods of detection of entanglement by operations and measurements performed solely on the system without accessing the environment. We use these methods to study the nature of the decoherence of a qubit-oscillator system. Qubit-oscillator entanglement is essential for developing bosonic quantum technology with quantum non-Gaussian states and its applications in quantum sensing and computing. The dominating bosonic platforms---trapped ions, electromechanics, and superconducting circuits---are based on the time-dependent gates that use such entanglement to achieve new quantum sensors and quantum error correction. The steplike time dependence of the Hamiltonian that is taken into account allows us to capture the complex interplay between the buildups of classical and quantum correlations, which could not be replicated in time-independent scenarios.
We determine the total state dynamics of a dephasing open quantum system using the standard environment of harmonic oscillators. Of particular interest are random unitary approaches to the same reduced dynamics and system-environment correlations in the full model. Concentrating on a model with an at times negative dephasing rate, the issue of non-Markovianity will also be addressed. Crucially, given the quantum environment, the appearance of non-Markovian dynamics turns out to be accompanied by a loss of system-environment correlations. Depending on the initial purity of the qubit state, these system-environment correlations may be purely classical over the whole relevant time scale, or there may be intervals of genuine system-environment entanglement. In the latter case, we see no obvious relation between the build-up or decay of these quantum correlations and Non-Markovianity.