Quantum speed limit for a mixed initial state

TL;DR

This paper derives a unified quantum speed limit bound for open systems with mixed initial states, revealing how initial state properties and non-Markovian effects influence the evolution speed.

Contribution

It introduces a new bound based on relative purity for mixed states and analyzes its dependence on initial state coherence and non-Markovianity in specific models.

Findings

Quantum speed limit bound depends on initial state coherence and non-Markovianity.

In the damped Jaynes-Cummings model, initial population and coherence sharpen the speed limit.

In the dephasing model, the speed limit is governed by non-Markovianity and initial coherence.

Abstract

A unified bound on the quantum speed limit is obtained for open quantum systems with the mixed initial state by utilizing the function of relative purity proposed in [Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 060409 (2018)]. As applications, it is found that the quantum speed limit bound for the damped Jaynes-Cumming model is determined by the competition among the non-Markovianity, the population of initial excited state and the initial-state coherence, which shows that the population of initial excited state and the coherence of initial state can sharp the quantum speed limit despite that the non-Markovian effects can accelerate the evolution of open quantum system. For the dephasing model, a simple factorization law with the initial-state coherence shows that the quantum speed limit is only governed by the competition between the non-Markovianity and the coherence of the initial state.