Abstract In this study, the steepest-entropy-ascent quantum thermodynamics (SEAQT) framework is used to investigate the excitation transfer (ET) dynamics of two-level nanosystems (TLSs), focusing on non-resonant processes that involve a dynamic local phonon system. In contrast to other methods based on Markovian or non-Markovian quantum master equations, SEAQT analysis always guarantees the positivity of the density operators, thus enabling the discussion of both transient and long-term dynamics of nanosystems. The findings of this study demonstrate that the relaxation time of coherent phonons, relative to the Rabi oscillation period in two TLSs, significantly affects the relaxation process of non-resonant ETs. Moreover, the degree of mutual synchronization between ET dynamics of TLSs and local (coherent) phonons can either prolong or shorten the decoherence time, presenting a way to control the coherence in nanosystems and stimulate quantum device applications.
The detailed characterization of non-trivial coherence properties of composite quantum systems of increasing size is an indispensable prerequisite for scalable quantum computation, as well as for understanding non-equilibrium many-body physics. Here, we show how autocorrelation functions in an interacting system of phonons as well as the quantum discord between distinct degrees of freedoms can be extracted from a small controllable part of the system. As a benchmark, we show this in chains of up to 42 trapped ions, by tracing a single phonon excitation through interferometric measurements of only a single ion in the chain. We observe the spreading and partial refocusing of the excitation in the chain, even on a background of thermal excitations. We further show how this local observable reflects the dynamical evolution of quantum discord between the electronic state and the vibrational degrees of freedom of the probe ion.
We theoretically calculate the dynamic structure factor of a two-dimensional Rashba-type spin-orbit-coupled (SOC) Fermi superfluid with the random phase approximation and analyze the main characters of dynamical excitation shown by both density and spin dynamic structure factors during a continuous phase transition between a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superfluid and a topological superfluid. Generally we find three different excitations, including collective phonon excitation, two-atom molecular and atomic excitations, and pair-breaking excitations due to the two-branch structure of the quasiparticle spectrum. It should be emphasized that collective phonon excitation is overlapped with a gapless
DD-type pair-breaking excitation at the critical Zeeman field
hc and is imparted a finite width to phonon peak when the transferred momentum
q is around the Fermi vector
kF. At a much larger transferred momentum
(q=4kF), the pair-breaking excitation happens earlier than two-atom molecular excitation, which is different from the conventional Fermi superfluid without the SOC effect.