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arXiv:2101.07282 · Quantum

On the connection between microscopic description and memory effects in open quantum system dynamics

Andrea Smirne, Nina Megier, Bassano Vacchini

Published Apr 26, 2021• 16 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The exchange of information between an open quantum system and its environment allows us to discriminate among different kinds of dynamics, in particular detecting memory effects to characterize non-Markovianity. Here, we investigate the role played by the system-environment correlations and the environmental evolution in the flow of information. First, we derive general conditions ensuring that two generalized dephasing microscopic models of the global system-environment evolution result exactly in the same open-system dynamics, for any initial state of the system. Then, we use the trace distance to quantify the distinct contributions to the information inside and outside the open system in the two models. Our analysis clarifies how the interplay between system-environment correlations and environmental-state distinguishability can lead to the same information flow from and toward the open system, despite significant qualitative and quantitative differences at the level of the global evolution.

DOI
10.22331/q-2021-04-26-439

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In this Thesis various aspects of memory effects in the dynamics of open quantum systems are studied. We develop a general theoretical framework for open quantum systems beyond the Markov approximation which allows us to investigate different sources of memory effects and to develop methods for harnessing them in order to realise controllable open quantum systems. \n \nIn the first part of the Thesis a characterisation of non-Markovian dynamics in terms of information flow is developed and applied to study different sources of memory effects. Namely, we study nonlocal memory effects which arise due to initial correlations between two local environments and further the memory effects induced by initial correlations between the open system and the environment. \n \nThe last part focuses on describing two all-optical experiment in which through selective preparation of the initial environment states the information flow between the system and the environment can be controlled. In the first experiment the system is driven from the Markovian to the non- Markovian regime and the degree of non-Markovianity is determined. In the second experiment we observe the nonlocal nature of the memory effects and provide a novel method to experimentally quantify frequency correlations in photonic environments via polarisation measurements.
Quantum memory effects can be related to a bidirectional exchange of information between an open system and its environment, which in turn modifies the state and dynamical behavior of the last one. Nevertheless, non-Markovianity can also be induced by environments whose dynamics is not affected during the system evolution, implying the absence of any physical information exchange. An unsolved open problem in the formulation of quantum memory measures is the apparent impossibility of discerning between both paradigmatic cases. Here we present an operational scheme that, based on the outcomes of successive measurements processes performed over the system of interest, allows one to distinguish between both kinds of memory effects. The method accurately detects bidirectional information flows in diverse dissipative and dephasing non-Markovian open system dynamics.
The basic features of the dynamics of open quantum systems, such as the dissipation of energy, the decay of coherences, the relaxation to an equilibrium or non-equilibrium stationary state, and the transport of excitations in complex structures are of central importance in many applications of quantum mechanics. The theoretical description, analysis and control of non-Markovian quantum processes play an important role in this context. While in a Markovian process an open system irretrievably loses information to its surroundings, non-Markovian processes feature a flow of information from the environment back to the open system, which implies the presence of memory effects and represents the key property of non-Markovian quantum behavior. Here, we review recent ideas developing a general mathematical definition for non-Markoviantiy in the quantum regime and a measure for the degree of memory effects in the dynamics of open systems which are based on the exchange of information between system and environment. We further study the dynamical effects induced by the presence of system-environment correlations in the total initial state and design suitable methods to detect such correlations through local measurements on the open system.
We explore the possibility to generate nonlocal dynamical maps of an open quantum system through local system-environment interactions. Employing a generic decoherence process induced by a local interaction Hamiltonian, we show that initial correlations in a composite environment can lead to nonlocal open system dynamics which exhibit strong memory effects, although the local dynamics is Markovian. In a model of two entangled photons interacting with two dephasing environments, we find a direct connection between the degree of memory effects and the amount of correlation in the initial environmental state. The results demonstrate that, contrary to conventional wisdom, enlarging an open system can change the dynamics from Markovian to non-Markovian.
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.
We study the dynamics of a quantum system whose interaction with an environment is described by a collision model, i.e., the open dynamics is modeled through sequences of unitary interactions between the system and the individual constituents of the environment, termed ``ancillas,'' which are subsequently traced out. In this setting, non-Markovianity is introduced by allowing for additional unitary interactions between the ancillas. For this model, we identify the relevant system-environment correlations that lead to a non-Markovian evolution. Through an equivalent picture of the open dynamics, we introduce the notion of ``memory depth'' where these correlations are established between the system and a suitably sized memory rendering the overall system+memory evolution Markovian. We extend our analysis to show that while most system-environment correlations are irrelevant for the dynamical characterization of the process, they generally play an important role in the thermodynamic description. Finally, we show that under an energy-preserving system-environment interaction, a nonmonotonic time behavior of the heat flux serves as an indicator of non-Markovian behavior.