DOI

Open quantum systems are, in general, described by a density matrix that is evolving under transformations belonging to a dynamical semigroup. They can obey the Franke–Gorini–Kossakowski–Lindblad–Sudarshan (FGKLS) equation. We exhaustively study the case of a Hilbert space of dimension 2. First, we find final fixed states (called pointers) of an evolution of an open system, and we then obtain a general solution to the FGKLS equation and confirm that it converges to a pointer. After this, we check that the solution has physical meaning, i.e., it is Hermitian, positive and has trace equal to 1, and find a moment of time starting from which the FGKLS equation can be used—the range of applicability of the semigroup symmetry. Next, we study the behavior of a solution for a weak interaction with an environment and make a distinction between interacting and non-interacting cases. Finally, we prove that there cannot exist oscillating solutions to the FGKLS equation, which would resemble the behavior of a closed quantum system.
Original languageEnglish
Article number754
Number of pages20
JournalSymmetry
Volume14
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 6 Apr 2022

    Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Science (miscellaneous)
  • Chemistry (miscellaneous)
  • Mathematics(all)
  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

    Research areas

  • density matrix, Franke–Gorini–Kossakowski–Lindblad–Sudarshan equation, pointers, decoherence, time evolution

ID: 94126754