Evolution of mixing during the damping of a number state

Abstract

We carry out a detailed analysis of the mixing process during the interaction of a single-mode field initially in a number state with a thermal reservoir. We prove that a maximum in the evolution of the 2-entropy of the attenuated mode exists provided that its initial photon number exceeds the mean occupancy of the reservoir. This transient mixing enhancement can be considered as a quantum effect of the initial state on the mode damping.