The quantum Zeno and anti-Zeno effects with driving fields in the weak and strong coupling regimes

Abstract

Repeated measurements in quantum mechanics can freeze (the quantum Zeno effect) or enhance (the quantum anti-Zeno effect) the time-evolution of a quantum system. In this paper, we present a general treatment of the quantum Zeno and anti-Zeno effects for arbitrary driven open quantum systems, assuming only that the system–environment coupling is weak. In particular, we obtain a general expression for the effective decay rate of a two-level system subjected to arbitrary driving fields as well as periodic measurements. We demonstrate that the driving fields change the decay rate, and hence the quantum Zeno and anti-Zeno behavior, both qualitatively and quantitatively. We also extend our results to systems consisting of more than one two-level system, as well as a two-level system strongly coupled to an environment of harmonic oscillators, to further illustrate the non-trivial effect of the driving fields on the quantum Zeno and anti-Zeno effects.

Superactivating Bound Entanglement in Quantum Networks via Quantum Zeno Dynamics and a Novel Algorithm for Optimized Zeno Evolution

“…Frequent measurements can also speed up the interaction of a quantum system and its environment, which is known as the anti-Zeno effect [17]. The anti-Zeno effect has been recently attracting attention to improve our understanding of the decay of quantum systems [23][24][25][26] and has been finding interesting applications, such as enabling advantages in quantum heat engines [27]. QZE is also studied in nonlinear systems [28,29] and is considered to be playing an important role in understanding quantum tunneling [30] and the transition from the quantum to the classical world [31].…”

Quantum Zeno repeaters

“…QZE and QAZE in weak and strong coupling regimes 40 – 42 and nonuniform couplings in a spin model 43 , as well as optimal 44 and non-selective 45 projective measurements have been studied in detail. Very recently, Majeed and Chaudhry studied two-level systems in both weak and strong coupling regimes to illustrate non-trivial effects of QZE and QAZE 46 .…”