Non-Markovian Steady States of a Driven Two-Level System
Journal article, 2022

We show that an open quantum system in a non-Markovian environment can reach steady states that it cannot reach in a Markovian environment. As these steady states are unique for the non-Markovian regime, they could offer a simple way of detecting non-Markovianity, as no information about the system's transient dynamics is necessary. In particular, we study a driven two-level system (TLS) in a semi-infinite waveguide. Once the waveguide has been traced out, the TLS sees an environment with a distinct memory time. The memory time enters the equations as a time delay that can be varied to compare a Markovian to a non-Markovian environment. We find that some non-Markovian states show exotic behaviors such as population inversion and steady-state coherence beyond 1/8, neither of which is possible for a driven TLS in the Markovian regime, where the time delay is neglected. Additionally, we show how the coherence of quantum interference is affected by time delays in a driven system by extracting the effective Purcell-modified decay rate of a TLS in front of a mirror.

Waveguides

Decay (organic)

Seebeck effect

Quantum optics

Author

Andreas Josefsson Ask

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Applied Quantum Physics

Göran Johansson

Chalmers, Microtechnology and Nanoscience (MC2), Applied Quantum Physics

Physical Review Letters

0031-9007 (ISSN) 1079-7114 (eISSN)

Vol. 128 8 083603

Kvantinformation med mikrovågor och ytakustiska vågor

Swedish Research Council (VR) (2017-04197), 2018-01-01 -- 2021-12-31.

Subject Categories

Computer Engineering

Control Engineering

Computer Science

DOI

10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.083603

PubMed

35275666

More information

Latest update

3/16/2022