Quantum technologies rely on the ability to coherently transfer information encoded in quantum states along quantum channels. Decoherence induced by the environment sets limits on the efficiency of any quantum-enhanced protocol. Generally, the longer a quantum channel is the worse its capacity is. We show that for non-Markovian quantum channels this is not always true: surprisingly the capacity of a longer channel can be greater than of a shorter one. We introduce a general theoretical framework linking non-Markovianity to the capacities of quantum channels and demonstrate how harnessing non-Markovianity may improve the efficiency of quantum information processing and communication.
Quantum technologies rely on the ability to coherently transfer information encoded in quantum states along quantum channels. Decoherence induced by the environment sets limits on the efficiency of any quantum-enhanced protocol. Generally, the longer a quantum channel is the worse its capacity is. We show that for non-Markovian quantum channels this is not always true: surprisingly the capacity of a longer channel can be greater than of a shorter one. We introduce a general theoretical framework linking non-Markovianity to the capacities of quantum channels and demonstrate how harnessing non-Markovianity may improve the efficiency of quantum information processing and communication.
Quantum technologies rely on the ability to coherently manipulate, process and transfer information, encoded in quantum states, along quantum channels. Decoherence induced by the environment introduces errors, thus setting limits on the efficiency of any quantum-enhanced protocol or device. A fundamental bound on the ability of a noisy quantum channel to transmit quantum (classical) information is given by its quantum (classical) capacity. Generally, the longer is a quantum channel the more are the introduced errors, and hence the worse is its capacity. In this Letter we show that for non-Markovian quantum channels this is not always true: surprisingly the capacity of a longer channel can be greater than the one of a shorter channel. We introduce a general theoretical framework linking non-Markovianity to the capacities of quantum channels, and demonstrate in full generality how harnessing non-Markovianity may improve the efficiency of quantum information processing and communication.
Any physical process can be represented as a quantum channel mapping an initial state to a final state. Hence it can be characterized from the point of view of communication theory, i.e., in terms of its ability to transfer information. Quantum information provides a theoretical framework and the proper mathematical tools to accomplish this. In this context the notion of codes and communication capacities have been introduced by generalizing them from the classical Shannon theory of information transmission and error correction. The underlying assumption of this approach is to consider the channel not as acting on a single system, but on sequences of systems, which, when properly initialized allow one to overcome the noisy effects induced by the physical process under consideration. While most of the work produced so far has been focused on the case in which a given channel transformation acts identically and independently on the various elements of the sequence (memoryless configuration in jargon), correlated error models appear to be a more realistic way to approach the problem. A slightly different, yet conceptually related, notion of correlated errors applies to a single quantum system which evolves continuously in time under the influence of an external disturbance which acts on it in a non-Markovian fashion. This leads to the study of memory effects in quantum channels: a fertile ground where interesting novel phenomena emerge at the intersection of quantum information theory and other branches of physics. A survey is taken of the field of quantum channels theory while also embracing these specific and complex settings.
Decoherence of quantum information of qubits is investigated under the influence of the non-Markovian quantum channel, where the correlation time of reservoir variables takes a finite value. Degradation of purity, distinguishability and entanglement of qubit states are evaluated. It is found that the non-Markov effect makes the coherence time of quantum information longer than that obtained for the Markovian quantum channel. Furthermore, the quantum teleportation and quantum dense coding of qubits are considered under the influence of non-Markov channels. The fidelity between teleported and original states and the Holevo capacity are obtained.
Non-Markovianity is commonly characterized through information-theoretic signatures of memory. Here we take a thermodynamic perspective and ask whether such memory can be operationally harnessed to enhance quantum-battery capacity. Within the process-tensor framework, we compare memoryless and memory-enhanced strategies and define their performance gap as the memory-assisted capacity advantage of a multitime process. We prove that this advantage vanishes for Markovian process tensors and is bounded by a trace-distance measure of process non-Markovianity. In a complementary continuous-time setting, we show using random telegraph dephasing that memory accumulated during the evolution can enhance capacity retention relative to a matched Markovian reference under the same control class. These results identify non-Markovian memory as an operational resource for quantum-battery capacity.
We study non Markovian quantum systems for communication of quantum information. The quantum capacities of an exactly solvable spin-star system are analytically determined.Our results show that they strongly depend on the bath frequencies and system-bath coupling.The Ising spin-bath becomes noisy as the bath temperature is increased decreasing its capacity to transmit information.For random couplings and bath frequencies, recurrences of coherence are small in amplitude and rapidly die out. However, full periodic recurrences occur for equal coupling and frequencies. For small number of bath spins, the capacities are higher at low temperature.We also study two time-correlated non-unital channels for the transmission of classical and quantum information, provided limited or unlimited entanglement is shared prior to the communication.The noise over two successive uses of the channel is assumed to be time-correlated Markov noise.For amplitude-damping channel, the capacities exhibit strong dependence on channel memory.They decrease as the channel noise increases and reduce to zero when noise is maximum. However, our results show that the capacities are always non-zero, in the presence of channel memory.This is similar to the superactivation phenomenon. For perfect memory channel, the capacities acquire maximum value.Finally, we determine the entanglement-assisted classical capacity of generalized amplitude-damping channel. Our results show that depending on the channel noise and system-reservoir coupling, there exists a memory threshold.Below this threshold, the capacity decreases as channel memory increases.However, the capacity increases with memory beyond this threshold and is maximum for perfect memory channels.
Understanding whether the features of open quantum dynamics are genuinely quantum remains a central challenge in quantum dynamics. Even though the non-Markovian behavior of quantum dynamics has been widely investigated across different settings, there is still no consensus on which properties of a dynamics reflect genuine quantum features and which arise from classical or non-genuine quantum sources. In this review, we provide detailed information on recent developments in characterizing quantum non-Markovianity based on information backflow and the nature of its origin. We also present a survey on how various approaches separate classical and quantum contributions, as well as how they define operational tasks that reveal genuine quantum non-Markovianity. We analyze several frameworks, including state-distinguishability -based, channel-based (``CP-divisibility''), and process-tensor methods. For each framework, we outline the underlying physical motivation, the criteria proposed to distinguish genuine quantum non-Markovianity from practical or apparent memory effects. We further compare different approaches and their strengths and limitations. The review aims to clarify the conceptual and operational aspects of quantum non-Markovian processes based on their nature and to provide a foundation for future research on quantum non-Markovianity and its role in advancing quantum information science and technology.