Characterizing quantum dynamics with initial system-environment correlations

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how to fully characterize the dynamics of an open quantum system with initial correlations using a photonic qubit, introducing new measures for correlation strength and optimizing experimental setups.

Contribution

It presents a method to reconstruct a superchannel for quantum systems with initial correlations, advancing understanding of open quantum system dynamics.

Findings

Successfully reconstructed a superchannel from system measurements

Introduced quantitative measures for initial correlation strength

Optimized experimental procedures based on correlation measures

Abstract

We fully characterize the reduced dynamics of an open quantum system initially correlated with its environment. Using a photonic qubit coupled to a simulated environment we tomographically reconstruct a superchannel---a generalised channel that treats preparation procedures as inputs---from measurement of the system alone, despite its coupling to the environment. We introduce novel quantitative measures for determining the strength of initial correlations, and to allow an experiment to be optimised in regards to its environment.