Kinematic Effect of Indistinguishability and Its Application to Open Quantum Systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces a framework for analyzing how indistinguishability affects open quantum systems, especially under environmental interference, and applies it to photon scattering and Rabi oscillations to explain dephasing phenomena.

Contribution

It presents a novel kinematic effect of indistinguishability applicable to open systems and models environmental interference impacting quantum experiments.

Findings

Indistinguishability causes a kinematic effect influencing open quantum systems.

The framework explains excitation induced dephasing in Rabi oscillations.

Photon scattering inefficiencies are modeled as open system effects.

Abstract

In quantum mechanics, useful experiments require multiple measurements performed on the identically prepared physical objects composing experimental ensembles. Experimental systems also suffer from environmental interference, and one should not assume that all objects in the experimental ensemble suffer interference identically from a single, uncontrolled environment. Here we present a framework for treating multiple quantum environments and fluctuations affecting only subsets of the experimental ensemble. We also discuss a kinematic effect of indistinguishability not applicable to closed systems. As an application, we treat inefficient photon scattering as an open system. We also create a toy model for the environmental interference suffered by systems undergoing Rabi oscillations, and we find that this kinematic effect may explain the puzzling Excitation Induced Dephasing generally measured in experiments.