On the unraveling of open quantum dynamics

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that open quantum system dynamics can be unraveled into Markov processes described by stochastic differential equations, providing rigorous concentration estimates and applications to Gaussian environments and quantum error mitigation.

Contribution

It introduces a general framework for unraveling open quantum dynamics via stochastic differential equations with rigorous concentration bounds, extending to Gaussian environments.

Findings

Unraveling of open quantum systems as Markov processes with stochastic differential equations.

Rigorous concentration estimates for the stochastic unravelings.

Application to Gaussian environments and quantum error mitigation.

Abstract

It is well known that the state operator of an open quantum system can be generically represented as the solution of a time-local equation -- a quantum master equation. Unraveling in quantum trajectories offers a picture of open system dynamics dual to solving master equations. In the unraveling picture, physical indicators are computed as Monte-Carlo averages over a stochastic process valued in the Hilbert space of the system. This approach is particularly adapted to simulate systems in large Hilbert spaces. We show that the dynamics of an open quantum system generically admits an unraveling in the Hilbert space of the system described by a Markov process generated by ordinary stochastic differential equations for which rigorous concentration estimates are available. The unraveling can be equivalently formulated in terms of norm-preserving state vectors or in terms of linear ``ostensible" processes trace preserving only on average. We illustrate the results in the case of a two level system in a simple boson environment. Next, we derive the state-of-the-art form of the Diosi-Gisin-Strunz Gaussian random ostensible state equation in the context of a model problem. This equation provides an exact unraveling of open systems in Gaussian environments. We compare and contrast the two unravelings and their potential for applications to quantum error mitigation.