Quantum non-Markovian Dynamics Research Articles

Quantum non-Markovian dynamics controlled by a local nanoprobe in nanosystems coupled via optical near fields

The optical near field originates from the non-Markovianity of quantum coherent dynamics due to the light–matter interaction. To observe the optical near field localized near the surface of a nanomaterial, a local nanoprobe must be in close proximity, and the effect of the local nanoprobe cannot be ignored. Therefore, we elucidate the effect of the local nanoprobe on the non-Markovianity of the optical-near-field interaction, estimating the trace distance between the density matrices in the non-Markovian and Markovian cases and its integration as a quantitative measure of the non-Markovianity. The effect of the local nanoprobe plays an important role in the quantum coherent and non-Markovian dynamics via the optical near field, and furthermore, this result suggests that the local nanoprobe can control the non-Markovianity in the quantum coherent dynamics.

Non-Markovianity of quantum Brownian motion

We study quantum non-Markovian dynamics of the Caldeira-Leggett model, a prototypical model for quantum Brownian motion describing a harmonic oscillator linearly coupled to a reservoir of harmonic oscillators. Employing the exact analytical solution of this model one can determine the size of memory effects for arbitrary couplings, temperatures, and frequency cutoffs. Here, quantum non-Markovianity is defined in terms of the flow of information between the open system and its environment, which is quantified through the Bures metric as distance measure for quantum states. This approach allows us to discuss quantum memory effects in the whole range from weak to strong dissipation for arbitrary Gaussian initial states. A comparison of our results with the corresponding results for the spin-boson problem show a remarkable similarity in the structure of non-Markovian behavior of the two paradigmatic models.

Impact of the temperature and size of an Ising chain environment on quantum non-Markovian dynamics

We study how the non-Markovian dynamics of an open quantum system is affected by the properties and parameters of its environment using a solvable model consisting of a single spin coupled to an Ising chain of spins with a transverse field playing the role of the environment. By solving the model's evolution exactly, we are able to calculate the memory kernel for the Nakajima-Zwanzig master equation and examine how its characteristics change with the temperature, field strength, and size of the environment. We discover that the thermal fluctuation enhances system-environment correlation in our model, leading to increased memory effect that is more prominent in larger environment and becomes dominant at higher temperatures to give rise to non-Markovian dynamics. Near the critical point of the environment, we find Fisher zeros in the Loschmidt echo exist for finite-environment sizes satisfying certain conditions, which results in exotic memory effects that can have a major impact on the system dynamics.

Experimental investigation of the effect of classical noise on quantum non-Markovian dynamics

We provide an experimental study of the relationship between the action of different classical noises on the dephasing dynamics of a two-level system and the non-Markovianity of the quantum dynamics. The two-level system is encoded in the photonic polarization degrees of freedom and the action of the noise is obtained via a spatial light modulator, thus allowing for an easy engineering of different random environments. The quantum non-Markovianity of the dynamics driven by classical Markovian and non-Markovian noise, both Gaussian and non-Gaussian, is studied by means of the trace distance. Our study clearly shows the different nature of the notion of non-Markovian classical process and non-Markovian quantum dynamics.

Experimental emulation of quantum non-Markovian dynamics and coherence protection in the presence of information backflow

We experimentally emulate, in a controlled fashion, the non-Markovian dynamics of a pure dephasing spin-boson model at zero temperature. Specifically, we use a randomized set of external radio-frequency fields to engineer a desired noise power-spectrum to effectively realize a non-Markovian environment for a single NMR qubit. The information backflow, characteristic to the non-Markovianity, is captured in the nonmonotonicity of the decoherence function and von Neumann entropy of the system. Using such emulated non-Markovian environments, we experimentally study the efficiency of the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill dynamical decoupling (DD) sequence to inhibit the loss of coherence. Using the filter function formalism, we design optimized DD sequences that maximize coherence protection for non-Markovian environments and study their efficiencies experimentally. Finally, we discuss DD-assisted tuning of the effective non-Markovianity.

System-environment correlations and Markovian embedding of quantum non-Markovian dynamics

We study the dynamics of a quantum system whose interaction with an environment is described by a collision model, i.e. the open dynamics is modelled through sequences of unitary interactions between the system and the individual constituents of the environment, termed "ancillas", which are subsequently traced out. In this setting non-Markovianity is introduced by allowing for additional unitary interactions between the ancillas. For this model, we identify the relevant system-environment correlations that lead to a non-Markovian evolution. Through an equivalent picture of the open dynamics, we introduce the notion of "memory depth" where these correlations are established between the system and a suitably sized memory rendering the overall system+memory evolution Markovian. We extend our analysis to show that while most system-environment correlations are irrelevant for the dynamical characterization of the process, they generally play an important role in the thermodynamic description. Finally, we show that under an energy-preserving system-environment interaction, a non-monotonic time behaviour of the heat flux serves as an indicator of non-Markovian behaviour.

Enabling quantum non-Markovian dynamics by injection of classical colored noise

The non-Markovian nature of quantum systems recently turned to be a key subject for investigations on open quantum system dynamics. Many studies, from its theoretical grounding to its usefulness as a resource for quantum information processing and experimental demonstrations, have been reported in the literature. Typically, in these studies, a structured reservoir is required to make non-Markovian dynamics to emerge. Here, we investigate the dynamics of a qubit interacting with a bosonic bath and under the injection of a classical stochastic colored noise. A canonical Lindblad-like master equation for the system is derived, using the stochastic wavefunction formalism. Then, the non-Markovianity of the evolution is witnessed using the Andersson, Cresser, Hall and Li measure. We evaluate the measure for three different noises and study the interplay between environment and noise pump necessary to generate quantum non-Markovianity, as well as the energy balance of the system. Finally, we discuss the possibility to experimentally implement the proposed model.

Quantum non-Markovianity based on the Fisher-information matrix

With the development of quantum-information theory, there has been a flurry of investigations of quantum non-Markovian dynamics, and several significant measures for such dynamics have been proposed from various perspectives, such as the breakdown of dynamical divisibility, increase in the distinguishability between quantum states, increase in correlations between the system and an arbitrary ancillary, and so on. Motivated by the idea of exploiting the information content of parameters encoded in initial states, we propose a conceptually simple and physically intuitive characterization for non-Markovianity with the help of a quantum-Fisher-information matrix. The basic features are illustrated through several examples, and relations with other approaches are elucidated. A hierarchial aspect of quantum non-Markovianity is revealed.

Collision-model-based approach to non-Markovian quantum dynamics

We present a theoretical framework to tackle quantum non-Markovian dynamics based on a microscopic collision model (CM), where the bath consists of a large collection of initially uncorrelated ancillas. Unlike standard memoryless CMs, we endow the bath with memory by introducing inter-ancillary collisions between next system-ancilla interactions. Our model interpolates between a fully Markovian dynamics and the continuous interaction of the system with a single ancilla, i.e., a strongly non-Markovian process. We show that in the continuos limit one can derive a general master equation, which while keeping such features is guaranteed to describe an unconditionally completely positive and trace-preserving dynamics. We apply our theory to an atom in a dissipative cavity for a Lorentzian spectral density of bath modes, a dynamics which can be exactly solved. The predicted evolution shows a significant improvement in approaching the exact solution with respect to two well-known memory-kernel master equations.

Linear Optics Simulation of Quantum Non-Markovian Dynamics

The simulation of open quantum dynamics has recently allowed the direct investigation of the features of system-environment interaction and of their consequences on the evolution of a quantum system. Such interaction threatens the quantum properties of the system, spoiling them and causing the phenomenon of decoherence. Sometimes however a coherent exchange of information takes place between system and environment, memory effects arise and the dynamics of the system becomes non-Markovian. Here we report the experimental realisation of a non-Markovian process where system and environment are coupled through a simulated transverse Ising model. By engineering the evolution in a photonic quantum simulator, we demonstrate the role played by system-environment correlations in the emergence of memory effects.