As discovered by P. W. Anderson, excitations do not propagate freely in a disordered lattice, but, due to destructive interference, they localise. As a consequence, when an atom interacts with a disordered lattice, one indeed observes a non-trivial excitation exchange between atom and lattice. Such non-trivial atomic dynamics will in general be characterised also by a non-trivial quantum information backflow, a clear signature of non-Markovian dynamics. To investigate the above scenario, we consider a quantum emitter, or atom, weakly coupled to a uniform coupled-cavity array (CCA). If initially excited, in the absence of disorder, the emitter undergoes a Markovian spontaneous emission by releasing all its excitation into the CCA (initially in its vacuum state). By introducing static disorder in the CCA the field normal modes become Anderson-localized, giving rise to a non-Markovian atomic dynamics. We show the existence of a functional relationship between a rigorous measure of quantum non-Markovianity and the CCA localization. We furthermore show that the average non-Markovianity of the atomic dynamics is well-described by a phenomenological model in which the atom is coupled, at the same time, to a single mode and to a standard - Markovian - dissipative bath.

Lorenzo, S., Lombardo, F., Ciccarello, F., Palma, G. (2017). Quantum non-Markovianity induced by Anderson localization. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 7, 42729 [10.1038/srep42729].

Quantum non-Markovianity induced by Anderson localization

Lorenzo, S.;LOMBARDO, Federico;CICCARELLO, Francesco;PALMA, Gioacchino Massimo
2017-01-01

Abstract

As discovered by P. W. Anderson, excitations do not propagate freely in a disordered lattice, but, due to destructive interference, they localise. As a consequence, when an atom interacts with a disordered lattice, one indeed observes a non-trivial excitation exchange between atom and lattice. Such non-trivial atomic dynamics will in general be characterised also by a non-trivial quantum information backflow, a clear signature of non-Markovian dynamics. To investigate the above scenario, we consider a quantum emitter, or atom, weakly coupled to a uniform coupled-cavity array (CCA). If initially excited, in the absence of disorder, the emitter undergoes a Markovian spontaneous emission by releasing all its excitation into the CCA (initially in its vacuum state). By introducing static disorder in the CCA the field normal modes become Anderson-localized, giving rise to a non-Markovian atomic dynamics. We show the existence of a functional relationship between a rigorous measure of quantum non-Markovianity and the CCA localization. We furthermore show that the average non-Markovianity of the atomic dynamics is well-described by a phenomenological model in which the atom is coupled, at the same time, to a single mode and to a standard - Markovian - dissipative bath.
2017
Lorenzo, S., Lombardo, F., Ciccarello, F., Palma, G. (2017). Quantum non-Markovianity induced by Anderson localization. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 7, 42729 [10.1038/srep42729].
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
2017 Anderson ScRep.pdf

accesso aperto

Dimensione 673.22 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
673.22 kB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10447/227945
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 3
  • Scopus 21
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 22
social impact