With increasing performance of actual qubit devices, even subtle effects in the interaction between qubits and environmental degrees of freedom become progressively relevant and experimentally visible. This applies particularly to the timescale separations that are at the basis of the most commonly used numerical simulation platform for qubit operations, namely, the conventional Lindblad master equation (LE): the Markov approximation and the rotating wave approximation (RWA). In this contribution, we shed light on the questions (i) to which extent it is possible to monitor violations of either of these timescale separations experimentally and (ii) which of them is the most severe to provide highly accurate predictions within (approximate) numerical schemes in relevant parameter ranges. For this purpose, we compare three simulation methods for the reduced density matrix with progressively growing accuracy. In particular, predictions for relaxation and decoherence of a qubit system in the presence of reservoirs with Ohmic and sub-Ohmic spectral densities are explored and, with the aid of proper protocols based on Ramsey experiments, the role of non-Markovianity and RWA are revealed. We discuss potential implications for future experiments and the design of approximate yet accurate numerical approaches.
With increasing performance of actual qubit devices, even subtle effects in the interaction between qubits and environmental degrees of freedom become progressively relevant and experimentally visible. This applies particularly to the timescale separations that are at the basis of the most commonly used numerical simulation platform for qubit operations, namely, the conventional Lindblad master equation (LE): the Markov approximation and the rotating wave approximation (RWA). In this contribution, we shed light on the questions (i) to which extent it is possible to monitor violations of either of these timescale separations experimentally and (ii) which of them is the most severe to provide highly accurate predictions within (approximate) numerical schemes in relevant parameter ranges. For this purpose, we compare three simulation methods for the reduced density matrix with progressively growing accuracy. In particular, predictions for relaxation and decoherence of a qubit system in the presence of reservoirs with Ohmic and sub-Ohmic spectral densities are explored and, with the aid of proper protocols based on Ramsey experiments, the role of non-Markovianity and RWA are revealed. We discuss potential implications for future experiments and the design of approximate yet accurate numerical approaches.
Quantum master equations are commonly used to model the dynamics of open quantum systems, but their accuracy is rarely compared with the analytical solution of exactly solvable models. In this work, we perform such a comparison for the damped Jaynes-Cummings model of a qubit in a leaky cavity, for which an analytical solution is available in the one-excitation subspace. We consider the non-Markovian time-convolutionless master equation up to the second (Redfield) and fourth orders as well as three types of Markovian master equations: the coarse-grained, cumulant, and standard rotating-wave approximation (RWA) Lindblad equations. We compare the exact solution to these master equations for three different spectral densities: impulse, Ohmic, and triangular. We demonstrate that the coarse-grained master equation outperforms the standard RWA-based Lindblad master equation for weak coupling or high qubit frequency (relative to the spectral density high-frequency cutoff ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{c}$), where the Markovian approximation is valid. In the presence of non-Markovian effects characterized by oscillatory, nondecaying behavior, the time-convolutionless approximation closely matches the exact solution for short evolution times (in units of ${\ensuremath{\omega}}_{c}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$) even outside the regime of validity of the Markovian approximations. For long evolution times, all master equations perform poorly, as quantified in terms of the trace-norm distance from the exact solution. The fourth-order time-convolutionless master equation achieves the top performance in all cases. Our results highlight the need for reliable approximation methods to describe open-system quantum dynamics beyond the short-time limit.
Recent advances in quantum technologies and related experiments have created a need for highly accurate, versatile, and computationally efficient simulation techniques for the dynamics of open quantum systems. Long-lived correlation effects (non-Markovianity), system-environment hybridization, and the necessity for accuracy beyond the Born-Markov approximation form particular challenges. Approaches to meet these challenges have been introduced, originating from different fields, such as hierarchical equations of motion, Lindblad-pseudomode formulas, chain-mapping approaches, quantum Brownian motion master equations, stochastic unravelings, and refined quantum master equations. This diversity, while indicative of the field's relevance, has inadvertently led to a fragmentation that hinders cohesive advances and their effective cross-community application to current problems for complex systems. How are different approaches related to each other? What are their strengths and limitations? Here we give a systematic overview and concise discussion addressing these questions. We make use of a unified framework which very conveniently allows to link different schemes and, this way, may also catalyze further progress. In line with the state of the art, this framework is formulated not in a fully reduced space of the system but in an extended state space which in a minimal fashion includes effective reservoir modes. This in turn offers a comprehensive understanding of existing methods, elucidating their physical interpretations, interconnections, and applicability.
Away from equilibrium, the properties of open quantum systems depend on the details of their environment. A microscopic derivation of a master equation (ME) is therefore crucial. Of particular interest are Lindblad-type equations, not only because they provide the most general class of Markovian MEs, but also since they are the starting point for efficient quantum trajectory simulations. Lindblad-type MEs are commonly derived from the Born-Markov-Redfield equation via a rotating-wave approximation (RWA). However the RWA is valid only for ultraweak system-bath coupling and often fails to accurately describe nonequilibrium processes. Here we derive an alternative Lindbladian approximation to the Redfield equation, which does not rely on ultraweak system-bath coupling. Applying it to an extended Hubbard model coupled to Ohmic baths, we show that, especially away from equilibrium, it provides a good approximation in large parameter regimes where the RWA fails.
The dynamics of a qubit in a structured environment is investigated theoretically. One point of view of the model is the spin-boson model with a Lorentz shaped spectral density. An alternative view is a qubit coupled to harmonic oscillator (HO), which in turn coupled to a Ohmic environment. Two different methods are applied and compared for this problem. One is a perturbation method based on a unitary transformation. Since the transformed hamiltonian is of rotating wave approximation (RWA) form, we call it the transformed rotating wave approximation (TRWA) method. And the other one is the numerically exact method of the quasi-adiabatic propagator path-integral (QUAPI) method. TRWA method can be applied from the first point of view. And the QUAPI method can applied from both points of views. We find that from the 1st point of view QUAPI only works well for large Γ. Since the memory time is too long for the practical evaluation of QUAPI when Γ is small. We call this treatment as QUAPI1. And from the 2nd point of view, QUAPI works well for small Γ, since the non-adiabatic effect become more important as Γ increases, one need smaller time-step and more steps to obtain accurate result which also quickly runs out the computational resources. This treatment is called QUAPI2. We find that the TRWA method works well for the whole parameter range of Γ and show good agreement with QUAPI1 and QUAPI2. On the other hand, we find that the decoherence of the qubit can be reduced with increasing coupling between HO and bath. This result may be relevant to the design of quantum computer.
We provide an in-depth and thorough treatment of the validity of the rotating-wave approximation (RWA) in an open quantum system. We find that when it is introduced after tracing out the environment all timescales of the open system are correctly reproduced, but the details of the quantum state in general will not be. The RWA made before the trace is more problematic: it results in incorrect values for environmentally induced shifts to system frequencies, and the resulting theory has no Markovian limit. In either form, the RWA gives an inaccurate quantum state which makes it inappropriate for calculating entanglement dynamics or similar detailed properties of the state dynamics. We also emphasize the fact that even under the RWA the master equation for a combination of systems and external forces is not a simple combination of the master equations of the systems and forces. Such a combination may be tempting, because the RWA guarantees that a master equation so constructed will have a valid mathematical form; however, it will not accurately reflect the dynamics of the physical system. To obtain the correct master equation for the composite system a proper consideration of the non-Markovian dynamics is required.
As the memory effect may be helpful in quantum information processing, non-Markovian dynamics plays an important role in the description of many-body open systems. Among these topics, the system consisting of independent qubits interacting with several coupled environments is of particular interest. In this paper, we study the exact non-Markovian dynamics of two independent qubits. Each of the qubits interacts individually with its environment, and these two environments coupled with each other. We investigate the non-Markovianity measure of the system for the whole parameter regime without the rotating-wave approximation (RWA) and compare the results with that under the RWA. We find that the non-Markovianity measure for two qubits manifests a transition from a non-Markovian to Markovian regime regardless of the coupling strength between the environments. The physical origin of this transition is revealed, and a possible observation of the prediction in superconducting quantum interference devices is discussed.