For a small system the coupling to a reservoir causes energy shifts as well as transitions between the system's energy levels. We show for a general stationary situation that the energy shifts can essentially be reduced to the relaxation rates. The effects of reservoir fluctuations and self reaction are treated separately. We apply the results to a two-level atom coupled to a reservoir which may be the vacuum of a radiation field.
Relaxation of a two-level system (TLS) into a resonant infinite-temperature reservoir with a Lorentzian spectrum is studied. The reservoir is described by a complex Gaussian-Markovian field coupled to the nondiagonal elements of the TLS Hamiltonian. The theory can be relevant for electromagnetic interactions in microwave high-$Q$ cavities and muon spin depolarization. Analytical results are obtained for the strong-coupling regime, $Ω_0\ggν$, where $Ω_0$ is the rms coupling amplitude (Rabi frequency) and $ν$ is the width of the reservoir spectrum. In this regime, the population difference and h…
Open-system approaches are gaining traction in the simulation of charge transport in nanoscale and molecular electronic devices. In particular, "extended reservoir" simulations, where explicit reservoir degrees of freedom are present, allow for the computation of both real-time and steady-state properties but require relaxation of the extended reservoirs. The strength of this relaxation, $γ$, influences the conductance, giving rise to a "turnover" behavior analogous to Kramers' turnover in chemical reaction rates. We derive explicit, general expressions for the weak and strong relaxation limit…
Spin collective phenomena including superradiance are even today being intensively investigated with experimental tests performed based on state-of-the-art quantum technologies. Such attempts are not only for the simple experimental verification of predictions from the last century but also as a motivation to explore new applications of spin collective phenomena and the coherent control of the coupling between spin ensembles and reservoirs. In this paper, we investigate the open quantum dynamics of two spin ensembles (double spin domains) coupled to a common bosonic reservoir. We analyze in de…
We consider a network of interacting resonators and analyze the physical ingredients that enable the emergence of relaxation-free and decoherence-free subspaces. We investigate two different situations: i) when the whole network interacts with a common reservoir and ii) when each resonator, strongly coupled to each other, interacts with its own reservoir. Our main result is that both subspaces are generated when all the resonators couple with the same group of reservoir modes, thus building up a correlation (among these modes), which has the potential to shield particular network states agains…
Reservoir engineering lattice states using only localized engineered dissipation is extremely attractive from a resource point of view, but can suffer from long relaxation times. Here, we study the relaxation dynamics of bosonic lattice systems locally coupled to a single squeezed reservoir. Such systems can relax into a highly non-trivial pure states with long-range entanglement. In the limit of large system size, analytic expressions for the dissipation spectrum can be found by making an analogy to scattering from a localized impurity. This allows us to study the cross-over from perturbative…
We apply our recently developed resonance perturbation theory to describe the dynamics of magnetization in paramagnetic spin systems interacting simultaneously with local and collective bosonic environments. We derive explicit expressions for the evolution of the reduced density matrix elements. This allows us to calculate explicitly the dynamics of the macroscopic magnetization, including characteristic relaxation and dephasing time-scales. We demonstrate that collective effects (i) do not influence the character of the relaxation processes but merely renormalize the relaxation times, and (ii…
We show that the coupling of quantum emitters to a two-dimensional reservoir with a simple band structure gives rise to exotic quantum dynamics with no analogue in other scenarios and which can not be captured by standard perturbative treatments. In particular, for a single quantum emitter with its transition frequency in the middle of the band we predict an exponential relaxation at a rate different from that predicted by the Fermi's Golden rule, followed by overdamped oscillations and slow relaxation decay dynamics. This is accompanied by directional emission into the reservoir. This directi…
For sufficiently low reservoir temperatures, it is known that open quantum systems subject to decoherent interactions with the reservoir relax towards their ground state in the weak coupling limit. Within the framework of quantum master equations, this is formalized by the Born-Markov-secular (BMS) approximation, where one obtains the system Gibbs state with the reservoir temperature as a stationary state. When the solution to some problem is encoded in the (isolated) ground state of a system Hamiltonian, decoherence can therefore be exploited for computation. The computational complexity is t…
We present an analysis of the relaxation dynamics of finite-size topological qubits in contact with a thermal bath. Using a continuous-time Monte Carlo method, we explicitly compute the low-temperature nonequilibrium dynamics of the toric code on finite lattices. In contrast to the size-independent bound predicted for the toric code in the thermodynamic limit, we identify a low-temperature regime on finite lattices below a size-dependent crossover temperature with nontrivial finite-size and temperature scaling of the relaxation time. We demonstrate how this nontrivial finite-size scaling is go…
In a recent article, Chiang and Hsu [The Journal of Chemical Physics 153, 044103 (2020)] examine one and two site electronic junctions identically connected to finite reservoirs. For these two examples, they derive analytical solutions, as well as provide asymptotic analyses, for the steady-state current from the driven Liouville-von Neumann (DLvN) equation - an open system approach to transport in non-interacting systems where relaxation maintains a bias. The two site junction they examine has destructive interference, which they show leads to slow convergence of the DLvN to the Landauer limi…
We consider the relaxation dynamics of two spins coupled to a common bosonic bath. The time evolution is simulated by a generalized master equation derived within a real-time diagrammatic approach. Interference effects due to the coherent coupling to the common bath give rise to characteristic features in the relaxation dynamics after a quench or during a periodic external driving. In particular, we find that the long-time behavior during periodic driving depends sensitively on the initial state as well as on system parameters such as coupling asymmetries. When coupled to more than a single re…
We study the time-dependent properties of double quantum dots coupled to two reservoirs using the nonequilibrium Green function method. For an arbitrary time-dependent bias, we derive an expression for the time-dependent electron density of a dot and several currents, including the current between the dots in the wide-band-limit approximation. For the special case of a constant bias, we calculate the electron density and the currents numerically. As a result, we find that these quantities oscillate and that the number of crests in a single period of the current from a dot changes with the bias…
Open system simulations of quantum transport provide a platform for the study of true steady states, Floquet states, and the role of temperature, time-dynamics, and fluctuations, among other physical processes. They are rapidly gaining traction, especially techniques that revolve around "extended reservoirs" - a collection of a finite number of degrees of freedom with relaxation that maintain a bias or temperature gradient - and have appeared under various guises (e.g., the extended or mesoscopic reservoir, auxiliary master equation, and driven Liouville-von Neumann approaches). Yet, there are…
By using the effective non-Markovian measure [H.P. Breuer, E.M. Laine, J. Piilo, Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 210401 (2009)], we investigate non-Markovian dynamics of a pair of two-level atoms (TLAs) system, each of which interacting with a local reservoir. We show that subsystem dynamics can be controlled by manipulating the coupling between TLAs, temperature and relaxation rate of the atoms. Moreover, the correlation between non-Markovianity of subsystem and entanglement between the subsystem and the structured bath is investigated, the results show that the emergence of non-Markovianity has a nega…
We analyze decoherence of an electron in a double-dot due to the interaction with acoustic phonons. For large tunneling rates between the quantum dots, the main contribution to decoherence comes from the phonon emission relaxation processes, while for small tunneling rates, the virtual-phonon, dephasing processes dominate. Our results show that in common semiconductors, such as Si and GaAs, the latter mechanism determines the upper limit for the double-dot charge qubit performance measure.
We analyze the spontaneous emission of a two-level atom interacting with a special class of structured reservoirs of field modes with band gap edge coinciding with the atomic transition frequency. The exact time evolution of the population of the excited level is evaluated analytically through series of Fox-$H$ functions. Over estimated long time scales, inverse power law relaxations emerge, with powers decreasing continuously to 2 according to the choice of the special reservoir. No trapping of the population of the excited level emerges. The same results are recovered in presence of $N-1$ at…
We derive and evaluate equations of motion for the mean values and variances of the components of spins collectively coupled to a broadband squeezed radiation reservoir. Our formalism bridges between a single two-level emitter, represented by spin components that relax at different rates, depending on the degree of squeezing, to an ensemble of emitters represented by a large collective spin, whose components relax independently of the squeezing. For a single spin, the steady state fluctuations in the transverse components are independent of the squeezing, while the steady state of a large spin…
The paper deals with the problem of open systems out of equilibrium. An analytical expression for time-dependent density matrix of two arbitrary coupled identical quantum oscillators interacting with separate reservoirs is derived using path integral methods. The temporal behavior of spatial variances and of covariance from given initial values up to stationary values is investigated. It was shown that at comparatively low coupling strengths the asymptotic variances in the long-time limit achieve steady states despite on initial conditions. Stationary values of variances differ from the case o…
A general formalism for computing the full counting statistics of energy exchanged between 'N' squeezed thermal photon reservoirs weakly coupled to a cavity with 'M' photon modes is presented. The formalism is based on the two-point measurement scheme and is applied to two simple special cases, the relaxation dynamics of a single mode cavity in contact with a single squeezed thermal photon reservoir and the steady-state energy transport between two squeezed thermal photon reservoirs coupled to a single cavity mode. Using analytical results, it is found that the short time statistics is signifi…
In this paper we analyze the double Caldeira-Leggett model: the path integral approach to two interacting dissipative harmonic oscillators. Assuming a general form of the interaction between the oscillators, we consider two different situations: i) when each oscillator is coupled to its own reservoir, and ii) when both oscillators are coupled to a common reservoir. After deriving and solving the master equation for each case, we analyze the decoherence process of particular entanglements in the positional space of both oscillators. To analyze the decoherence mechanism we have derived a general…
We investigate the fundamental breathing mode of a small-sized elongated Bose-Einstein condensate coupled to a large Fermi sea of atoms. Our observations show a dramatic shift of the breathing frequency when the mixture undergoes phase separation at strong interspecies repulsion. We find that the maximum frequency shift in the full phase-separation limit depends essentially on the atom number ratio of the components. We interpret the experimental observations within a model that assumes an adiabatic response of the Fermi sea, or within another model that considers single fermion trajectories f…
In the resource theory of thermodynamics, the decrease of the free energy based on von Neumann entropy is not a sufficient condition to determine free evolution. Rather, a whole family of generalised free energies $F_α$ must be monotonically decreasing. We study the resilience of this result to relaxations of the framework. We use a toy collisional model, in which the deviations from the ideal situation can be described as arising from inhomogeneities of local fields or temperatures. For any small amount of perturbation, we find that there exist initial states such that both single-shot and av…
Driving an open spin system by two strong, nearly degenerate fields enables addressing populations of individual spin states, characterisation of their interaction with thermal bath, and measurements of their relaxation/decoherence rates. With such addressing we observe nested magnetic resonances having nontrivial dependence on microwave field intensity: while the width of one of the resonances undergoes a strong power broadening, the other one exhibits a peculiar field-induced stabilization. We also observe light-induced narrowing of such composite resonances. The observations are explained b…
We introduce state-independent, non-perturbative Hamiltonian quantum speed limits for population leakage and fidelity loss, for a gapped open system interacting with a reservoir. These results hold in the presence of initial correlations between the system and the reservoir, under the sole assumption that their interaction and its commutator with the reservoir Hamiltonian are norm-bounded. The reservoir need not be thermal and can be time-dependent. We study the significance of energy mismatch between the system and the local degrees of freedom of the reservoir which directly interact with the…
A structured electromagnetic reservoir can result in novel dynamics of quantum emitters. In particular, the reservoir can be tailored to have a memory of past interactions with emitters, in contrast to memory-less Markovian dynamics of typical open systems. In this Article, we investigate the non-Markovian dynamics of a superconducting qubit strongly coupled to a superconducting slow-light waveguide reservoir. Tuning the qubit into the spectral vicinity of the passband of this waveguide, we find non-exponential energy relaxation as well as substantial changes to the qubit emission rate. Furthe…
In this study, a circuitry model of the coupling of a qubit to reservoir modes is defined to clearly determine the effect of the reservoir modes on the qubit decay and dephasing rates. The main goal is to theoretically calculate the dephasing and decay rate of a qubit, particularly due to the circuitry effect. Firstly, the Hamiltonian of the system (coupling of a qubit to the reservoir modes) is defined and used to derive the time evolution of the density matrix for the qubit energy levels. By calculating the qubit level density evolutions, one can estimate at which frequency the maximum coupl…
A strong electromagnetic field interacting with an electron system generates both the Rabi oscillations and the Stark splitting of the electron density. Changing of the electron density gives rise to nonadiabatic effects due to existence of the electron-vibrational interaction in a dissipative system. In this Letter, the mechanism of energy transfer between the electron system and the phonon reservoir is presented. This mechanism is based on establishment of the coupling between the electron states dressed by the electromagnetic field and the forced vibrations of reservoir oscillators under th…
This work addresses the problem of relaxation of open systems to quasi-equilibrium states. Time-dependent density matrix of two arbitrary coupled quantum oscillators of arbitrary properties interacting with separate reservoirs is derived based on path integration. Temporal dynamics of spatial variances and covariances of the oscillators from any given time up to quasi-equilibrium steady states is studied. It is demonstrated for general case that asymptotic spatial variances of two arbitrary oscillators and their covariances achieve stationary values in the long-time limit. A comparison of stea…
Strong coupling regime takes place in open hybrid systems consisting of two or more physical subsystems when the coupling strength between subsystems exceeds the relaxation rate. The relaxation arises due to the interaction of the system with environment. For this reason, it is usually believed that the enhancement of the interaction with environment inevitably leads to a transition of the system from the strong to weak coupling regime. In this paper, we refute this common opinion. We demonstrate the interaction of the coupled system with environment induces an additional coupling between the …
We describe how a structured photonic medium controls the spontaneous emission rate from an excited quantum dot in the presence of electron-phonon coupling. We analyze this problem using a polaron transformed master equation and we consider specific examples of a photonic crystal cavity and a coupled cavity waveguide. We find that when the relaxation times of the photon and phonon baths are comparable, phonons influence spontaneous emission in a non-trivial way. We demonstrate why and how the broadband frequency dependence of the local photon density of states determines the photon emission ra…
The Organization of Environmental Coupling Shapes What Quantum Reservoirs Remember
Quantum Applications and Research Laboratory (QAR-Lab), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München（慕尼黑路德维希-马克西米利安大学量子应用与研究实验室）；Mobile and Distributed Systems Group, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München（慕尼黑路德维希-马克西米利安大学移动与分布式系统小组）
We consider a finite quantum system under slow driving and weakly coupled to thermal reservoirs at different temperatures. We present a systematic derivation of the quantum master equation for the density matrix and the out-of-time-order correlators. We start from the microscopic Hamiltonian and we formulate the equations ruling the dynamics of these quantities by recourse to the Schwinger-Keldysh non-equilibrium Green's function formalism, performing a perturbative expansion in the coupling between the system and the reservoirs. We focus on the adiabatic dynamics, which corresponds to conside…
We study relaxation of a moving spin qubit caused by phonon noise. As we vary the speed of the qubit, we observe several interesting features in spin relaxation and the associated phonon emission, induced by Doppler effect. In particular, in the supersonic regime, the phonons emitted by the relaxing qubit is concentrated along certain directions, similar to the shock waves produced in classical Cherenkov effect. As the speed of the moving qubit increases from the subsonic regime to the supersonic regime, the qubit experiences a peak in the spin relaxation rate near the speed of sound, which we…
We proposed the general concept of quantum antenna in the strong coupling regime. It is based on the theory of open quantum systems. The antenna emission to the space is considered as an interaction with the thermal photonic reservoir. For modeling of the antenna dynamics is formulated a master equation with the correspondent Lindblad super-operators as the radiation terms. It is shown that strong coupling dramatically changes the radiation pattern of antenna. The total power pattern splits to three partial components; each corresponds to the spectral line of Mollow triplet. We analyzed the de…
The dynamics of a three-level atom in a cascade configuration with both transitions coupled to a single structured reservoir of quantized field modes is treated using Laplace transform methods applied to the coupled amplitude equations. Results are also obtained from master equations by two different approaches, that is, involving either pseudomodes or quasimodes. Two different types of reservoir are considered, namely a high-Q cavity and a photonic band-gap system, in which the respective reservoir structure functions involve Lorentzians. Non-resonant transitions are included in the model. In…
We study the late-time relaxation following a quench in a driven-dissipative quantum many-body system. We consider the open Dicke model, describing the infinite-range interactions between $N$ atoms and a single, lossy electromagnetic mode. We show that the dynamical phase transition at a critical atom-light coupling is characterized by the interplay between reservoir-driven and intrinsic relaxation processes. Above the critical coupling, small fluctuations in the occupation of the dominant quasiparticle-mode start to grow in time while the quasiparticle lifetime remains finite due to losses. N…
As low-loss non-linear elements, Josephson junctions are the building blocks of superconducting qubits. The interaction of the qubit degree of freedom with the quasiparticles tunneling through the junction represent an intrinsic relaxation mechanism. We develop a general theory for the qubit decay rate induced by quasiparticles, and we study its dependence on the magnetic flux used to tune the qubit properties in devices such as the phase and flux qubits, the split transmon, and the fluxonium. Our estimates for the decay rate apply to both thermal equilibrium and non-equilibrium quasiparticles…
We investigate the sympathetic relaxation of a free-standing, vibrating carbon nano-tube that is mounted on an atom chip and is immersed in a cloud of ultra-cold atoms. Gas atoms colliding with the nano-tube excite phonons via a Casimir-Polder potential. We use Fermi's Golden Rule to estimate the relaxation rates for relevant experimental parameters and develop a fully dynamic theory of relaxation for the multi-mode phononic field embedded in a thermal atomic reservoir. Based on currently available experimental data, we identify the relaxation rates as a function of atom density and temperatur…
External driving is emerging as a promising tool for exploring new phases in quantum systems. The intrinsically non-equilibrium states that result, however, are challenging to describe and control. We study the steady states of a periodically driven one-dimensional electronic system, including the effects of radiative recombination, electron-phonon interactions, and the coupling to an external fermionic reservoir. Using a kinetic equation for the populations of the Floquet eigenstates, we show that the steady-state distribution can be controlled using the momentum and energy relaxation pathway…
