Dan Speed

Beyond Gaussian Channels: A model case

An important phenomenon that occurs in open quantum systems is decoherence (the ability of a quantum system to lose its 'quantum-ness'). I will introduce the Lindblad equation and some examples to describe this phenomenon, which can be solved explicitly in the phase space. An interesting case to consider is the 'scattering and dephasing' Lindblad equation (where environmental interaction is governed by linear and quadratic operators). In the phase space this gives rise to a second order linear PDE with variable coefficients. I will describe some properties of the solution to this equation and how first order approximations can be used to derive the entropy of quantum channels induced by these dynamics.