General non-Markovian dynamics of open quantum systems

  • Wei Min Zhang*
  • , Ping Yuan Lo
  • , Heng Na Xiong
  • , Matisse Wei Yuan Tu
  • , Franco Nori
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

297 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present a general theory of non-Markovian dynamics for open systems of noninteracting fermions (bosons) linearly coupled to thermal environments of noninteracting fermions (bosons). We explore the non-Markovian dynamics by connecting the exact master equations with the nonequilibirum Green's functions. Environmental backactions are fully taken into account. The non-Markovian dynamics consists of nonexponential decays and dissipationless oscillations. Nonexponential decays are induced by the discontinuity in the imaginary part of the self-energy corrections. Dissipationless oscillations arise from band gaps or the finite band structure of spectral densities. The exact analytic solutions for various non-Markovian thermal environments show that non-Markovian dynamics can be largely understood from the environmental-modified spectra of open systems.

Original languageEnglish
Article number170402
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume109
Issue number17
DOIs
StatePublished - 26 Oct 2012
Externally publishedYes

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