We present a formalism for studying the behaviour of quantum systems coupled to nonequilibrium environments exhibiting nonGaussian fluctuations. We discuss the role of a qubit as a detector of the statistics of environmental fluctuations, as well as nonMarkovian effects in both weak and strong coupling limits. We also discuss the differences between the influences of classical and quantum environments. As examples of the application of this formalism we study the dephasing and relaxation of a charge qubit coupled to nonequillibrium electron transport through single and double quantum dots.
We study theoretically nonequilibrium Landau-Zener-Stückelberg (LZS) dynamics in a driven double quantum dot (DQD) including dephasing and, importantly, energy relaxation due to environmental fluctuations. We derive effective nonequilibrium Bloch equations. These allow us to identify clear signatures for LZS oscilations observed but not recognized as such in experiments [Petersson et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 246804, 2010] and to identify the full environmental fluctuation spectra acting on a DQD given experimental data as in [Petersson et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 246804, 2010]. Herein we f…
We analyze the real-time dynamics of a quantum two-state system in the presence of nonequilibrium quantum fluctuations. The latter are generated by a coupling of the two-state system to a single electronic level of a quantum dot which carries a nonequilibrium tunneling current. We restrict to the sequential tunneling regime and calculate the dynamics of the two-state system, of the dot population, and of the nonequilibrium charge current on the basis of a diagrammatic perturbative method valid for a weak tunneling coupling. We find a nontrivial dependence of the relaxation and dephasing rates …
Using a real-time path integral approach we develop an algorithm to calculate multi-time correlation functions of open few-level quantum systems that is applicable to highly nonequilibrium dynamics. The calculational scheme fully keeps the non-Markovian memory introduced by the pure-dephasing type coupling to a continuum of oscillators. Furthermore, we discuss how to deal consistently with the simultaneous presence of non-Markovian and Markovian system reservoir interactions. We apply the method to a crucial test case, namely the evaluation of emission spectra of a laser-driven two-level quant…
We investigate the dynamics of the spaser-based nanolaser in the strong incoherent pumping regime in the quantum limit when the photon number is the order of unity. We consider the situation where the newly irradiated photon finds itself in the cloud of earlier irradiated photons that are not thermalized. As the result the entanglement of nanoparticle with quantum dot degrees of freedom in the nanolaser and the lasing intensity increases several times. In fact the nonthermal bath effectively makes the nanolaser "more quantum" and master equation for the nanolaser density matrix nonlinear and s…
The fast decay of carrier inversion in photoexcited graphene has been attributed to optical phonon emission and Auger recombination. Plasmon emission provides another pathway that, as we show here, drives the carrier relaxation dynamics on ultrafast timescales. In studying the nonequilibrium relaxation dynamics we find that plasmon emission effectively converts inversion into hot carriers, whose energy is then extracted by optical phonon emission. This mechanism not only explains the observed fs-lifetime of inversion but also offers the prospect for atomically thin ultrafast plasmon emitters.
We study the spin dynamics in charged quantum dots in the situation where the resident electron is coupled to only about 200 nuclear spins and where the electron spin splitting induced by the Overhauser field does not exceed markedly the spectral broadening. The formation of a dynamical nuclear polarization as well as its subsequent decay by the dipole-dipole interaction is directly resolved in time. Because not limited by intrinsic nonlinearities, almost complete nuclear polarization is achieved, even at elevated temperatures. The data suggest a nonequilibrium mode of nuclear polarization, di…
We study theoretically the charge polarization and the charge current dynamics of a mesoscopic ring driven by short asymmetric electromagnetic pulses and threaded by an external static magnetic flux. It is shown that the pulse-induced charge polarization and the associated light-emission is controllable by tuning the external magnetic flux. Applying two mutually perpendicular pulses triggers a charge current in the ring. The interplay between this nonequilibrium and the persistent currents is investigated and the conditions under which the pulses stop the persistent current are identified.
We develop a theory of far from the equilibrium transport in arrays of tunnel junctions. We find that if the rate of the electron-electron interactions exceeds the rate of the electron-phonon energy exchange, the energy relaxation ensuring the charge transfer may occur sequentially. In particular, cotunneling transport in arrays of junctions is dominated by the relaxation via the intermediate bosonic environment, the electron-hole excitations, rather than by the electron-phonon mechanism. The current-voltage characteristics are highly sensitive to the spectrum of the environmental modes and to…
Quantum dots are recognized as a suitable platform for studying thermodynamic phenomena involving single electronic charges and spins in nano-scale devices. However, such a thermodynamic system is usually driven by electron reservoirs at different temperatures, not by a lattice temperature gradient. We report on experimental observations of charge-spin cooperative dynamics in transitions of two-electron spin states in a GaAs double quantum dot located in a non-equilibrium phonon environment. Enhancements in the spin-flip processes are observed, originating from phonon excitation combined with …
We investigate the dynamical and steady-state spin response of the nonequilibrium Anderson model to magnetic fields, bias voltage, and temperature using a numerically exact method combining a bold-line quantum Monte Carlo technique with the memory function formalism. We obtain converged results in a range of previously inaccessible regimes, in particular the crossover to the Kondo domain. We provide detailed predictions for novel nonequilibrium phenomena, including non-monotonic temperature dependence of observables at high bias voltage and oscillatory quench dynamics at high magnetic fields.
We study several dynamical properties of a recently proposed implementation of the quantum transverse-field Ising chain in the framework of circuit QED. Particular emphasis is placed on the effects of disorder on the nonequilibrium behavior of the system. We show that small amounts of fabrication-induced disorder in the system parameters do not jeopardize the observation of previously-predicted phenomena. Based on a numerical extraction of the mean free path of the system, we also provide a simple quantitative estimate for certain disorder effects on the nonequilibrium dynamics of the circuit …
We investigate nonequilibrium energy transfer in a single-site Bose-Hubbard model coupled to two thermal baths. By including a quantum kinetic equation combined with full counting statistics, we investigate the steady state energy flux and noise power. The influence of the nonlinear Bose-Hubbard interaction on the transfer behaviors is analyzed, and the nonmonotonic features are clearly exhibited. Particularly, in the strong on-site repulsion limit, the results become identical with the nonequilibrium spin-boson model. We also extend the quantum kinetic equation to study the geometric-phase-in…
Self-assembled quantum dot (QD) solids are a highly tunable class of materials with a wide range of applications in solid-state electronics and optoelectronic devices. In this perspective, we highlight how the presence of microscopic disorder in these materials can influence their macroscopic optoelectronic properties. Specifically, we consider the dynamics of excitons in energetically disordered QD solids using a theoretical model framework for both localized and delocalized excitonic regimes. In both cases, we emphasize the tendency of energetic disorder to promote nonequilibrium relaxation …
We present a generalized potential theory of nonequilibrium torques for the Landau-Lifshitz equation. The general formulation of exchange forces in terms of two potential energies allows for the implementation of accurate machine learning models for adiabatic spin dynamics of out-of-equilibrium itinerant magnetic systems. To demonstrate our approach, we develop a deep-learning neural network that successfully learns the forces in a driven s-d model computed from the nonequilibrium Green's function method. We show that the Landau-Lifshitz dynamics simulations with forces predicted from the neur…
We show how a quantum Ising spin chain in a time-dependent transverse magnetic field can be simulated and experimentally probed in the framework of circuit QED with current technology. The proposed setup provides a new platform for observing the nonequilibrium dynamics of interacting many-body systems. We calculate its spectrum to offer a guideline for its initial experimental characterization. We demonstrate that quench dynamics and the propagation of localized excitations can be observed with the proposed setup and discuss further possible applications and modifications of this circuit QED q…
We study the response of a highly-excited time dependent quantum many-body state to a sudden local perturbation, a sort of orthogonality catastrophe problem in a transient non-equilibrium environment. To this extent we consider, as key quantity, the overlap between time dependent wave-functions, that we write in terms of a novel two-time correlator generalizing the standard Loschmidt Echo. We discuss its physical meaning, general properties, and its connection with experimentally measurable quantities probed through non-equilibrium Ramsey interferometry schemes. Then we present explicit calcul…
In this work, we extend the recently established system-bath entanglement theorem (SBET) [J. Chem. Phys. 152, 034102 (2020)] to the nonequilibrium scenario, in which an arbitrary system couples to multiple Gaussian baths environments at different temperatures. While the existing SBET connects the entangled system-bath response functions to those of local systems, the extended theory is concerned with the nonequilibrium steady-state quantum transport current through molecular junctions. The new theory is established on the basis of the generalized Langevin equation, with a close relation to non…
We propose a nonequilibrium Monte Carlo (MC) approach to explore nonequilibrium dynamical ferromagnetism of interacting single molecule magnets (SMMs). Both quantum spin tunneling and thermally activated spin reversal are successfully implemented in the same MC simulation framework. Applied to a typical example, this simulation method satisfactorily reproduces experimental magnetization curves with experimental parameters. Our results show that both quantum and classical effects are essential to determine the hysteresis behaviors. This method is effective and reliable to gain deep insights int…
We show that distinct topological phases of the band structure of a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian can be classified with elements of the braid group. As the proof of principle, we consider the non-Hermitian evolution of the statistics of nonequilibrium stochastic currents. We show that topologically nontrivial phases have detectable properties, including the emergence of decaying oscillations of parity and state probabilities, and discontinuities in the steady state statistics of currents.
We study the role of excited phonon populations in the relaxation rates of nonequilibrium electrons using a nonequilibrium Green's function formalism. The transient modifications in the phononic properties are accounted for by self-consistently solving the Dyson equation for the electron and phonon Green's functions. The pump induced changes manifest in both the electronic and phononic spectral functions. We find that the excited phonon populations suppress the decay rates of nonequilibrium electrons due to enhanced phonon absorption. The increased phonon occupation also sets the nonequilibriu…
