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Dynamics of Collective Decoherence and Thermalization

Published Jan 1, 2008• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We analyze the dynamics of N interacting spins (quantum register) collectively coupled to a thermal environment. Each spin experiences the same environment interaction, consisting of an energy conserving and an energy exchange part. We find the decay rates of the reduced density matrix elements in the energy basis. We show that if the spins do not interact among each other, then the fastest decay rates of off-diagonal matrix elements induced by the energy conserving inter-action is of order N2, while that one induced by the energy exchange interaction is of the order N only. Moreover, the diagonal matrix elements approach their limiting values at a rate independent of N. For a general spin system the decay rates depend in a rather complicated (but explicit) way on the size N and the interaction between the spins. Our method is based on a dynamical quantum resonance theory valid for small, fixed values of the couplings. We do not make Markov-, Born- or weak coupling (van Hove) approximations. 1

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We analyze the dynamics of N interacting spins (quantum register) collectively coupled to a thermal environment. Each spin experiences the same environment interaction, consisting of an energy conserving and an energy exchange part. We find the decay rates of the reduced density matrix elements in the energy basis. We show that if the spins do not interact among each other, then the fastest decay rates of off-diagonal matrix elements induced by the energy conserving inter-action is of order N2, while that one induced by the energy exchange interaction is of the order N only. Moreover, the diagonal matrix elements approach their limiting values at a rate independent of N. For a general spin system the decay rates depend in a rather complicated (but explicit) way on the size N and the interaction between the spins. Our method is based on a dynamical quantum resonance theory valid for small, fixed values of the couplings. We do not make Markov-, Born- or weak coupling (van Hove) approximations. 1
We present a rigorous analysis of the phenomenon of decoherence for general N -level quantum systems coupled a reservoir modelled by a thermal bosonic quantum environment. We present an explicit form of the dominant reduced dynamics of open systems. We give explicit results for a spin 1/2 (qubit), including decoherence and thermalization times. Our approach is based on a dynamical theory of quantum resonances. It yields the exact reduced dynamics of the small system and does not involve master equation or van Hove limit approximations. This approach is suitable for a wide variety of systems which are not explicitly solvable, including systems of interacting spins (registers of interacting qubits), for which the coupling between the system and the environment is fixed but small.
The dynamical evolution of a quantum register of arbitrary length coupled to an environment of arbitrary coherence length is predicted within a relevant model of decoherence. The results are reported for quantum bits (qubits) coupling individually to different environments (``independent decoherence'') and qubits interacting collectively with the same reservoir (``collective decoherence''). In both cases, explicit decoherence functions are derived for any number of qubits. The decay of the coherences of the register is shown to strongly depend on the input states: We show that this sensitivity is a characteristic of both types of coupling (collective and independent) and not only of the collective coupling, as has been reported previously. A nontrivial behavior (``recoherence'') is found in the decay of the off-diagonal elements of the reduced density matrix in the specific situation of independent decoherence. Our results lead to the identification of decoherence-free states in the collective decoherence limit. These states belong to subspaces of the system's Hilbert space that do not get entangled with the environment, making them ideal elements for the engineering of ``noiseless'' quantum codes. We also discuss the relations between decoherence of the quantum register and computational complexity based on the dynamical results obtained for the register density matrix.
We consider two qubits interacting with local and collective thermal reservoirs. Each spin-reservoir interaction consists of an energy exchange and an energy conserving channel. We prove a resonance representation of the reduced dynamics of the spins, valid for all times t ⩾ 0, with errors (small interaction) estimated rigorously, uniformly in time. Subspaces associated to non-interacting energy differences evolve independently, partitioning the reduced density matrix into dynamically decoupled clusters of jointly evolving matrix elements. Within each subspace the dynamics is Markovian with a generator determined entirely by the resonance data of the full Hamiltonian. Based on the resonance representation we examine the evolution of entanglement (concurrence). We show that, whenever thermalization takes place, entanglement of any initial state dies out in a finite time and will not return. For a concrete class of initially entangled spin states we find explicit bounds on entanglement survival and death times in terms of the initial state and the resonance data.
We consider two qubits interacting with local and collective thermal reservoirs. Each spin-reservoir interaction consists of an energy exchange and an energy conserving channel. We prove a resonance representation of the reduced dynamics of the spins, valid for all times t ⩾ 0, with errors (small interaction) estimated rigorously, uniformly in time. Subspaces associated to non-interacting energy differences evolve independently, partitioning the reduced density matrix into dynamically decoupled clusters of jointly evolving matrix elements. Within each subspace the dynamics is Markovian with a generator determined entirely by the resonance data of the full Hamiltonian. Based on the resonance representation we examine the evolution of entanglement (concurrence). We show that, whenever thermalization takes place, entanglement of any initial state dies out in a finite time and will not return. For a concrete class of initially entangled spin states we find explicit bounds on entanglement survival and death times in terms of the initial state and the resonance data.
We solve the time-dependent Schrodinger equation for the combination of a spin system interacting with a spin bath environment. In particular, we focus on the time development of the reduced density matrix of the spin system. Under normal circumstances we show that the environment drives the reduced density matrix to a fully decoherent state, and furthermore the diagonal elements of the reduced density matrix approach those expected for the system in the canonical ensemble. We show one exception to the normal case is if the spin system cannot exchange energy with the spin bath. Our demonstration does not rely on time-averaging of observables nor does it assume that the coupling between system and bath is weak. Our findings show that the canonical ensemble is a state that may result from pure quantum dynamics, suggesting that quantum mechanics may be regarded as the foundation of quantum statistical mechanics.
In this review, we discuss the decoherence and thermalization of a quantum spin system interacting with a spin bath environment, by numerically solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation of the whole system. The effects of the topologic structure and the initial state of the environment on the decoherence of the two-spin and many-spin system are discussed. The role of different spin-spin coupling is considered. We show under which conditions the environment drives the reduced density matrix of the system to a fully decoherent state, and how the diagonal elements of the reduced density matrix approach those expected for the system in the microcanonical or canonical ensemble, depending on the character of the additional integrals of motion. Our demonstration does not rely on time-averaging of observables nor does it assume that the coupling between system and bath is weak. Our findings show that the microcanonical distribution (in each eigenenergy subspace) and canonical ensemble are states that may result from pure quantum dynamics, suggesting that quantum mechanics may be regarded as the foundation of quantum statistical mechanics. Furthermore, our numerical results show that a fully decoherent quantum system prefers to stay in an equilibrium state with a maximum entropy, indicating the validity of the second law of thermodynamics in the decoherence process.