Physical review. E

Statistical-gauge covariance in open quantum systems

Anonymous

Published Aug 4, 2026• 3 citations

Abstract

Statistical-gauge structures generated by current operators provide a symmetry-based description of forces and hyperforces in closed quantum statistical mechanics, but their status in open quantum dynamics remains largely unexplored. Here we develop a generalized statistical-gauge framework for Markovian open quantum systems governed by Lindblad evolution. The construction formulates statistical shifts in a smeared operator language, thereby avoiding singular local expressions while preserving the force and hyperforce content of the closed theory. Within this framework, the action of the Lindblad generator is analyzed in a jump-resolved representation that separates Hamiltonian transport from dissipative contributions in jump space. The central result is a modular Ward identity that holds for any full-rank quantum state, independently of equilibrium, stationarity, or unitary dynamics. We show that weak covariance is controlled by the full dissipative structure in jump space, rather than by invariance of individual jump operators or by particle-number conservation. This leads to a classification of continuum reservoirs according to density weight and spatial rate profile, and shows that Lindblad dynamics can deform the transported shift algebra through its product defect even when the bath is weakly covariant. Physically, the theory explains why uniform one-body loss or pumping may preserve the statistical-gauge structure, whereas density dephasing, multiparticle loss, and nonuniform bath profiles generically produce covariance-breaking residuals. These residuals provide practical diagnostics for reservoir engineering, approximate master equations, and numerical many-body simulations of open quantum systems.

DOI: 10.1103/vghs-2pdw

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