Role of initial quantum correlation in transient linear response

TL;DR

This paper investigates how initial quantum correlations between a two-level system and its environment significantly influence the transient linear response, highlighting the importance of initial conditions in experimental analysis.

Contribution

It demonstrates that initial quantum correlations alter transient responses, emphasizing the need to consider correlated initial states in theoretical and experimental studies.

Findings

Transient responses differ markedly between correlated and factorized initial states.

Strong system-environment interactions amplify the impact of initial correlations.

Ignoring initial quantum correlations leads to inaccurate predictions of system behavior.

Abstract

The linear transient response of a two-level system coupled with an environmental system is studied under correlated and factorized initial conditions. We find that the transient response in these cases differs significantly from each other, especially for strong system-environment interaction at intermediate temperatures. This means that it is necessary to pay attention to the initial conditions chosen when analyzing experiments on transient linear response, because the conventional factorized initial condition results in an incorrect response, in which the quantum correlation between the relevant system and the environmental system is disregarded.