arXiv:1712.06719 · New Journal of Physics

Mixing-induced quantum non-Markovianity and information flow

Heinz-Peter Breuer, Giulio Amato, Bassano Vacchini

Published Feb 28, 2018• 41 citations

Abstract

Mixing dynamical maps describing open quantum systems can lead from Markovian to non-Markovian processes. Being surprising and counter-intuitive, this result has been used as argument against characterization of non-Markovianity in terms of information exchange. Here, we demonstrate that, quite the contrary, mixing can be understood in a natural way which is fully consistent with existing theories of memory effects. In particular, we show how mixing-induced non-Markovianity can be interpreted in terms of the distinguishability of quantum states, system-environment correlations and the information flow between system and environment.

DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/aab2f9

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