Non-Markovian discrete qubit dynamics

Abstract

The study of open quantum systems is important for fundamental issues of quantum physics as well as for technological applications such as quantum information processing. The interaction of a quantum system with its environment is usually detrimental for the quantum properties of the system and leads to decoherence. However, sometimes a quantum control can lead to a coherent partial exchange of information between the system and the dynamics of the open system might become non-Markovian. In this article, we study experimentally discrete non-Markovian open quantum system dynamics. We implement a local control protocol using linear optics for controlling the information flow between the open system and the environment. We show how the transition from Markovian to non-Markovian dynamics can be controlled using only local operations for the open system.