Liouvillian gap closing--bound states in the continuum connection and diverse dynamics in a giant-atom waveguide QED setup

Abstract

In open quantum systems, reduced dynamics is commonly described by a master equation, whose Liouvillian gap closing (LGC) typically signals the emergence of decoherence-free subspace. By contrast, the dynamics of the full system-environment compound is governed by the underlying Hamiltonian spectrum, where bound states in the continuum (BICs) can protect long-lived quantum resources. Despite these parallel perspectives, the relation between LGC and BIC formation has remained largely unexplored. Here we bridge this gap in a paradigmatic giant-atom waveguide platform and show that the occurrence of LGC necessarily benchmarks the presence of a BIC in the full Hamiltonian description. By engineering the giant-atom geometry, we further demonstrate rich dynamical regimes-including Rabi oscillations, fractional decay, and complete exponential relaxation-depending on the number of supported BICs, which can be tuned from three to zero. Remarkably, when two BICs become frequency-degenerate, the long-time dynamics approaches a steady state rather than exhibiting persistent oscillations. Our results establish a direct spectral-dynamical connection between effective Markovian and underlying non-Markovian descriptions, and provide a route toward flexible control of open-system dynamics.