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.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.170402.

No abstract

The quantum-to-classical transition is due to environment-induced decoherence, and it depicts how classical dynamics emerges from quantum systems. Previously, the quantum-to-classical transition has mainly been described with memory-less (Markovian) quantum processes. Here we study the complexity of the quantum-to-classical transition through general non-Markovian memory processes. That is, the influence of various reservoirs results in a given initial quantum state evolving into one of the following four scenarios: thermal state, thermal-like state, quantum steady state, or oscillating quantum nonstationary state. In the latter two scenarios, the system maintains partial or full quantum coherence due to the strong non-Markovian memory effect, so that in these cases, the quantum-to-classical transition never occurs. This unexpected new feature provides a new avenue for the development of future quantum technologies because the remaining quantum oscillations in steady states are decoherence-free.

The incoherent dynamical properties of open quantum systems are generically attributed to an ongoing correlation between the system and its environment. Here, we propose a novel way to assess the nature of these system-environment correlations by examining the system dynamics alone. Our approach is based on the possibility or impossibility to simulate open-system dynamics with Hamiltonian ensembles. As we show, such (im)possibility to simulate is closely linked to the system-environment correlations. We thus define the nonclassicality of open-system dynamics in terms of the nonexistence of a Hamiltonian-ensemble simulation. This classifies any nonunital open-system dynamics as nonclassical. We give examples for open-system dynamics that are unital and classical, as well as unital and nonclassical.