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arXiv:1109.0242 · Physical Review A

Quantifying non-Markovianity of continuous-variable Gaussian dynamical maps

Ruggero Vasile, Sabrina Maniscalco, Matteo G. A. Paris, Heinz‐Peter Breuer, Jyrki Piilo

Published Nov 23, 2011• 126 citations
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Abstract

We introduce a non-Markovianity measure for continuous-variable open quantum systems based on the idea put forward in H.-P. Breuer et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 210401 (2009);], that is, by quantifying the flow of information from the environment back to the open system. Instead of the trace distance we use here the fidelity to assess distinguishability of quantum states. We employ our measure to evaluate non-Markovianity of two paradigmatic Gaussian channels: the purely damping channel and the quantum Brownian motion channel with Ohmic environment. We consider different classes of Gaussian states and look for pairs of states maximizing the backflow of information. For coherent states we find simple analytical solutions, whereas for squeezed states we provide both exact numerical and approximate analytical solutions in the weak coupling limit.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.84.052118

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We introduce a non-Markovianity measure for continuous-variable open quantum systems based on the idea put forward in H.-P. Breuer et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 210401 (2009);], that is, by quantifying the flow of information from the environment back to the open system. Instead of the trace distance we use here the fidelity to assess distinguishability of quantum states. We employ our measure to evaluate non-Markovianity of two paradigmatic Gaussian channels: the purely damping channel and the quantum Brownian motion channel with Ohmic environment. We consider different classes of Gaussian states and look for pairs of states maximizing the backflow of information. For coherent states we find simple analytical solutions, whereas for squeezed states we provide both exact numerical and approximate analytical solutions in the weak coupling limit.
The exchange of information between an open quantum system and its environment, especially the backflow of information from the environment to the open system associated with quantum notions of non-Markovianity, is a widely discussed topic for years now. This information flow can be quantified by means of the trace distance of pairs of quantum states which provides a measure for the distinguishability of the states. The same idea can also be used to characterize the information flow in classical open systems through a suitable distance measure for their probability distributions on phase space. Here, we investigate the connection between the trace distance based quantum measure and the Kolmogorov distance for differently ordered quasiprobability distributions on phase space. In particular, we show that, for any pair of quantum states, one can find a unique quasiprobability distribution for which the Kolmogorov distance coincides with the trace distance. We further study the quantum-to-classical transition of the distance measures. By employing the Caldeira-Leggett model of quantum Brownian motion as a prototypical example, numerical simulations indicate a particularly rapid convergence of the Kolmogorov distance of the Wigner functions to the trace distance in the classical uncertainty limit, which establishes the Wigner function distance as an optimal tool for measuring semi-classical information backflow and for quantifying non-Markovianity in open continuous variable quantum systems.
We put forward a measure based on Gaussian steering to quantify the non-Markovianity of continuous-variable (CV) Gaussian quantum channels. We employ the proposed measure to assess and compare the non-Markovianity of a quantum Brownian motion (QBM) channel, originating from the interaction with Ohmic and sub-Ohmic environments with spectral densities described by a Lorentz-Drude cutoff, both at high and low temperatures, showing that sub-Ohmic, high-temperature environments lead to highly non-Markovian evolution, with cyclic backflows of Gaussian steerability from the environment to the system. Our results add to the understanding of the interplay between quantum correlations and non-Markovianity for CV systems, and could be implemented at the experimental level to quantify non-Markovianity in some physical scenarios.
We construct a general measure for the degree of non-Markovian behavior in open quantum systems. This measure is based on the trace distance which quantifies the distinguishability of quantum states. It represents a functional of the dynamical map describing the time evolution of physical states, and can be interpreted in terms of the information flow between the open system and its environment. The measure takes on nonzero values whenever there is a flow of information from the environment back to the open system, which is the key feature of non-Markovian dynamics.
We investigate the Markovian and non-Markovian dynamics of Gaussian quantum channels, exploiting a recently introduced necessary and sufficient criterion and the ensuing measure of non-Markovianity based on the violation of the divisibility property of the dynamical map. We compare the paradigmatic instances of quantum Brownian motion (QBM) and pure damping channels, and for the former we find that the exact dynamical evolution is always non-Markovian in the finite-time as well as in the asymptotic regimes for any nonvanishing value of the non-Markovianity parameter. If one resorts to the rotating-wave approximated form of the QBM, that neglects the anomalous diffusion contribution to the system dynamics, we show that such an approximation fails to detect the non-Markovian nature of the dynamics. Finally, for the exact dynamics of the QBM in the asymptotic regime, we show that the quantifiers of non-Markovianity based on the distinguishability between quantum states fail to detect the non-Markovian nature of the dynamics.
We study quantum non-Markovian dynamics of the Caldeira-Leggett model, a prototypical model for quantum Brownian motion describing a harmonic oscillator linearly coupled to a reservoir of harmonic oscillators. Employing the exact analytical solution of this model one can determine the size of memory effects for arbitrary couplings, temperatures, and frequency cutoffs. Here, quantum non-Markovianity is defined in terms of the flow of information between the open system and its environment, which is quantified through the Bures metric as distance measure for quantum states. This approach allows us to discuss quantum memory effects in the whole range from weak to strong dissipation for arbitrary Gaussian initial states. A comparison of our results with the corresponding results for the spin-boson problem show a remarkable similarity in the structure of non-Markovian behavior of the two paradigmatic models.
Recently, a measure for the non-Markovian behavior of quantum processes in open systems has been developed, which is based on the quantification of the flow of information between the open system and its environment [Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 210401 (2009)]. The information flow is connected to the rate of change of the trace distance between quantum states, which can be interpreted in terms of the distinguishability of these states. Here, we elaborate the mathematical details of this theory, present applications to specific physical models, and discuss further theoretical and experimental implications as well as relations to alternative approaches proposed recently.