Modeling the interaction between a quantum system and its environment is crucial for practical quantum technologies. The Lindblad master equation is the simplest equation to understand this interaction. In this paper, we have extended the traditional Lindblad equation by fractionalizing its time derivative to account for the memory-induced dissipation. Using this approach, we show weak dissipation of selected quantum systems can be reproduced by this proposed time-fractional Lindblad equation without introducing any specific dissipation terms in the model. By varying the order of the time-fractional Lindblad equation without dissipation terms, we can reproduce the results with good agreements to three tested cases: (a) dissipative Rabi oscillation, (b) dissipative Ising model, and (c) collapse and revival in the Jaynes–Cumming model. We believe this proposed time-fractional Lindblad equation may be a useful modeling tool to characterize weakly dissipative quantum systems in practical quantum technologies, especially if the complex dissipation mechanism is not completely known from the traditional approaches.
Modeling the interaction between a quantum system and its environment is crucial for practical quantum technologies. The Lindblad master equation is the simplest equation to understand this interaction. In this paper, we have extended the traditional Lindblad equation by fractionalizing its time derivative to account for the memory-induced dissipation. Using this approach, we show weak dissipation of selected quantum systems can be reproduced by this proposed time-fractional Lindblad equation without introducing any specific dissipation terms in the model. By varying the order of the time-fractional Lindblad equation without dissipation terms, we can reproduce the results with good agreements to three tested cases: (a) dissipative Rabi oscillation, (b) dissipative Ising model, and (c) collapse and revival in the Jaynes–Cumming model. We believe this proposed time-fractional Lindblad equation may be a useful modeling tool to characterize weakly dissipative quantum systems in practical quantum technologies, especially if the complex dissipation mechanism is not completely known from the traditional approaches.
Open quantum systems exhibit dynamics ranging from unitary evolution to irreversible dissipation. While the Gorini--Kossakowski--Sudarshan--Lindblad (GKSL) equation uniquely characterizes Markovian CPTP evolution, many physical platforms display non-Markovian features such as algebraic relaxation and coherence backflow. Fractional calculus provides a natural way to model such long-memory behavior through power-law temporal kernels introduced by fractional time derivatives. Here we develop a unified framework that embeds fractional master equations within the broader hierarchy of open-system formalisms. The fractional equation forms a structured subclass of memory-kernel models, reduces to the Lindblad form at unit order, and, through Bochner--Phillips subordination, admits a CPTP representation as an average over Lindblad semigroups. Its resolvent structure further connects fractional dynamics to established non-Markovian approaches, including Nakajima--Zwanzig kernels and hierarchical equations of motion, providing a compact surrogate for long-memory effects. This formulation positions fractional calculus as a rigorous and practical language for quantum dynamics with intrinsic memory, supporting both analytical insight and efficient quantum simulation.
Abstract Realistic models of quantum systems must include dissipative interactions with a thermal environment. For weakly-damped systems, while the Lindblad-form Markovian master equation is invaluable for this task, it applies only when the frequencies of any subset of the system’s transitions are degenerate, or their differences are much greater than the transitions’ linewidths. Outside of these regimes the only available efficient description has been the Bloch–Redfield master equation, the efficacy of which has long been controversial due to its failure to guarantee the positivity of the density matrix. The ability to efficiently simulate weakly-damped systems across all regimes is becoming increasingly important, especially in quantum technologies. Here we solve this long-standing problem by deriving a Lindblad-form master equation for weakly-damped systems that is accurate for all regimes. We further show that when this master equation breaks down, so do all time-independent Markovian equations, including the B-R equation. We thus obtain a replacement for the B-R equation for thermal damping that is no less accurate, simpler in structure, completely positive, allows simulation by efficient quantum trajectory methods, and unifies the previous Lindblad master equations. We also show via exact simulations that the new master equation can describe systems in which slowly-varying transition frequencies cross each other during the evolution. System identification tools, developed in systems engineering, play an important role in our analysis. We expect these tools to prove useful in other areas of physics involving complex systems.
In this paper, we examine the time-fractional Schrödinger equation from the perspective of non-Markovian dynamics in dissipative systems. First, we determine the range of the fractional derivative's order by examining the memory properties of the time-fractional Schrödinger equation. Next, we employ the Jaynes-Cummings model to identify the appropriate mathematical form of the imaginary unit. Finally, we use the refined equation to study quantum teleportation under amplitude damping noise. It was found that the time-fractional Schrödinger equation without fractional operations on the imaginary unit i might be more suitable for describing non-Markovian dynamics in dissipative systems. Our research may provide a new perspective on the time-fractional Schrödinger equation, contributing to a deeper understanding and further development of time-fractional quantum mechanics.
• A generalized time-dependent Jaynes–Cummings model is investigated within the framework of the time fractional Schr¨odinger equation. • Two distinct fractional formulations are compared, encompassing oscillatory and dissipative non- Markovian dynamics. • Our results shows that fractional order introduces memory effects leading to damped oscillations and asymptotic decay in population inversion and entanglement. • Time-dependent couplings (linear, exponential, and sinusoidal) strongly modulate entanglement generation and decay. • Fractional order acts as a control parameter, preserving non-periodic dynamics under sinusoidal coupling within specific regimes. We investigate the fractional time description of a generalized quantum light-matter system modeled by a time-dependent Jaynes-Cummings (JC) interaction, with different coupling types: constant, linear, exponential, and sinusoidal. Two formulations of the time fractional Schrödinger equation (TFSE) are examined, with a focus on their impact on population inversion and entanglement. Our findings highlight that the introduction of fractional order introduces memory effects, associated with damped oscillations and asymptotic decay. Furthermore, we find that the time-dependent couplings, combined with distinct fractional formulations, influence how these effects occur, ultimately resulting in high or low entanglement. A key finding of our work is that, under sinusoidal coupling, non-periodic dynamics is preserved for both formulations of the TFSE; however, within a certain range, the fractional order can act as a control mechanism for the non-periodic evolution.
Simulating mixed-state evolution in open quantum systems is crucial for various chemical physics, quantum optics, and computer science applications. These simulations typically follow the Lindblad master equation dynamics. An alternative approach known as quantum state diffusion unraveling is based on the trajectories of pure states generated by random wave functions, which evolve according to a nonlinear Itô-Schrödinger equation (ISE). This study introduces weak first-order and second-order solvers for the ISE based on directly applying the Itô-Taylor expansion with exact derivatives in the interaction picture. We tested the method on free and driven Morse oscillators coupled to a thermal environment and found that both orders allowed practical estimation with a few dozen iterations. The variance was relatively small compared to the linear unraveling and did not grow with time. The second-order solver delivers a much higher accuracy and stability with bigger time steps than the first-order scheme, with a small additional workload. However, the second-order algorithm has quadratic complexity with the number of Lindblad operators as opposed to the linear complexity of the first-order algorithm.
Understanding dissipation in open quantum systems is crucial for the development of robust quantum technologies. In this work, we introduce a transformer-based machine learning framework to infer time-dependent dissipation rates in systems governed by the Lindblad master equation. Our method requires only time series of observable quantities, such as 〈 σ x ( t ) 〉 , 〈 σ y ( t ) 〉 , and 〈 σ z ( t ) 〉 , and does not require prior knowledge of the initial quantum state or the system Hamiltonian during inference. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach across a hierarchy of open quantum models, including single-qubit systems with time-independent and time-dependent jump rates, two-qubit interacting systems (e.g., Heisenberg and transverse Ising models), and the Jaynes-Cummings model with cavity loss and time-dependent decay. Our method accurately reconstructs both fixed and time-varying dissipation profiles from observable trajectories. We further show that under reasonable assumptions, the jump rates in these models are uniquely determined by a small set of measurable observables. The results suggest that transformer-based learning provides a scalable and data-driven route for identifying environmental effects in open quantum systems.