Evolution of a quantum harmonic oscillator coupled to a minimal thermal environment

摘要

In this paper it is studied the influence of a minimal thermal environment on the dynamics of a quantum harmonic oscillator (labelled A), prepared in a coherent state. The environment itself consists of a second oscillator (labelled B), initially in a thermal state. Two types of interaction Hamiltonians are considered, and the time-evolution of the reduced density operator of oscillator A is compared to the one obtained from the usual master equation approach, i.e., assuming that oscillator A is coupled to a large reservoir. An analysis of the linear entropy evolution of oscillator A shows that simplified models may be able to describe important features related to the phenomenon of decoherence, such as the rapid growth of the linear entropy, as well as its dependence on the effective temperature of the environment. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.