A close examination of the validity of the Markovian approximation in the context of relaxation theory is presented. In particular, we examine the question of positivity of various approximations to the reduced dynamics of an open system in interaction with a heat reservoir. It is shown that the Markovian equations of motion obtained in the weak coupling limit (Redfield equations) are a consistent approximation to the actual reduced dynamics only if supplemented by a slippage in the initial conditions. This slippage captures the effects of the non-Markovian evolution that takes place in a short transient time, of the order of the relaxation time of the isolated bath.
A close examination of the validity of the Markovian approximation in the context of relaxation theory is presented. In particular, we examine the question of positivity of various approximations to the reduced dynamics of an open system in interaction with a heat reservoir. It is shown that the Markovian equations of motion obtained in the weak coupling limit (Redfield equations) are a consistent approximation to the actual reduced dynamics only if supplemented by a slippage in the initial conditions. This slippage captures the effects of the non-Markovian evolution that takes place in a short transient time, of the order of the relaxation time of the isolated bath.
In this paper, we examine the validity of the Markovian approximation and the slippage scheme used to incorporate short time transient memory effects in the Markovian master equations (Redfield equations). We argue that for a bath described by a spectral function, J(omega), that is dense and smoothly spread out over the range omega(d), a time scale of tau(b) approximately 1/omega(d) exists; for times of t > tau(b), the Markovian approximation is applicable. In addition, if J(omega) decays to zero reasonably fast in both the omega --> 0 and omega --> infinity limits, then the bath relaxation time, tau(b), is determined by the width of the spectral function and is weakly dependent on the temperature of the bath. On the basis of this criterion of tau(b), a scheme to incorporate transient memory effects in the Markovian master equation is suggested. Instead of using slipped initial conditions, we propose a concatenation scheme that uses the second-order perturbation theory for short time dynamics and the Markovian master equation at long times. Application of this concatenation scheme to the spin-boson model shows that it reproduces the reduced dynamics obtained from the non-Markovian master equation for all parameters studied, while the simple slippage scheme breaks down at high temperatures.
For a slow open quantum subsystem weakly coupled to a fast thermal bath, we derive the general form of the slippage to be applied to the initial conditions of the Redfield master equation. This slippage is given by a superoperator which describes the non-Markovian dynamics of the subsystem during the short-time relaxation of the thermal bath. We verify in an example that the Redfield equation preserves positivity after the slippage superoperator has been applied to the initial density matrix of the subsystem. For δ-correlated baths, the Redfield master equation reduces to the Lindblad master equation and the slippage of initial conditions vanishes consistently.
We study non-Markovian dynamics of an open quantum system system interacting with a nonstationary squeezed bosonic reservoir. We derive exact and approximate descriptions for the open system dynamics. Focusing on the spin boson model, we compare exact dynamics with Redfield theory and a quantum optical master equation for both short and long time dynamics and in non-Markovian and Markov regimes. The squeezing of the bath results in asymptotic oscillations in the stationary state, which are captured faithfully by the Redfield master equation in the case of weak coupling. Furthermore, we find that the bath squeezing direction modifies the effective system-environment coupling strength and, thus, the strength of the dissipation.
A fully classical limit of the recently published quantum-classical approximation [A. A. Neufeld, J. Chem. Phys. 119, 2488 (2003)] is obtained and analyzed. The resulting kinetic equations are capable of describing the evolution of an open system on the entire time axis, including the short-time non-Markovian stage, and are valid beyond linear response regime. We have shown, that proceeding to the classical mechanics limit we restrict the class of allowed correlations between an open system and a canonical bath, so that the initial conditions and the relaxation operator has to be appropriately modified (projected). Disregard of the projection may lead to unphysical behavior, since mechanism of the decay of some correlations is essentially of quantum-mechanical nature, and is not correctly described by classical mechanics. The projection (quantum correction to the kinetics) is particularly important for the non-Markovian regime of relaxation towards canonical equilibrium. The conformity of the developed method to the conventional approaches is demonstrated using a model of Brownian motion (heavy particle in the bath of light ones), for which the obtained non-Markovian equations are reduced to the standard Fokker-Planck equation in phase space.
Open quantum systems are often encountered in many different physical situations. From quantum optics to statistical mechanics, they are fundamental in the understanding of a great variety of different phenomena. Some of the most common examples are the relaxation to equilibrium, the existence of nonequilibrium stationary states, and the dynamics of atoms in interaction with electromagnetic fields. A crucial step in the analysis is to consider the quantum open system and its environment as the two mutually interacting components of a larger isolated system. Thereafter, the so‐called Markov approximation is often considered, which consists on assuming that the time scales associated to the dynamics of the quantum open system are larger than those of the environment. It is the interplay of the different time scales associated with the system and the environment what determines the validity of the different approximations made. In this paper we will discuss the dynamics of a open quantum system in contact with a reservoir when the Markov approximation is not valid, and we have to include some non‐Markovian or memory effects.
Since its rediscovery in the twentieth century, the Mpemba effect, where a far-from-equilibrium state may relax faster than a state closer to equilibrium, has been extensively studied in classical systems and has recently received attention in quantum systems. Many theories explaining this counter-intuitive behavior in classical systems rely on memory effects. However, in quantum systems, the relation between the Mpemba effect and memory has remained unexplored. In this Letter, we consider general non-Markovian open quantum systems and reveal new classes of quantum Mpemba effects, with no analog in Markovian quantum dynamics. Generically, open quantum dynamics possess a finite memory time and a unique steady state. Because of non-Markovian dynamics, even if the system is initialized in the steady state it can take a long time to relax back. We find other initial states that reach the steady state much faster. Most notably, we demonstrate that there can be an initial state in which the system reaches the steady state within the finite memory time itself, giving the fastest possible relaxation to stationarity. We verify the effect for quantum dot systems coupled to electronic reservoirs in equilibrium and nonequilibrium setups at weak, intermediate and strong coupling. Our Letter provides new insights into the rich physics underlying accelerated relaxation in quantum systems.