Thermalization and long-lived quantum memory in the multi-atomic ensembles

TL;DR

This paper investigates how thermalization affects quantum memory in multi-atomic ensembles, demonstrating that dynamical decoupling cannot mitigate thermalization-induced decoherence and proposing new insights into thermalization processes.

Contribution

It introduces a novel understanding of thermalization as an internal process beyond unitary quantum dynamics and discusses potential methods to mitigate its impact on quantum memory.

Findings

Thermalization causes decoherence in multi-atomic quantum memory.

Dynamical decoupling cannot remove thermalization effects.

New models suggest internal processes drive thermalization beyond standard quantum theory.

Abstract

We have studied the role of thermalization in lifetime reduction of quantum memory based on multi-atomic ensembles. Herein, it is shown to be impossible to remove the thermaization-caused decoherence in such systems using the methods of dynamical decoupling. We have analyzed the existing models of the thermalization and have proposed a new understanding of the thermalization as a result of the internal processes which are not described in the unitary quantum dynamics formalism. The possible ways for reducing the negative influence of thermalization on the quantum memory lifetime are also discussed.