Open Quantum System Dynamics: Quantum Simulators and Simulations Far From Equilibrium

Coordinators: Lincoln Carr, Andrew Daley, Sabrina Maniscalco, and Ulrich Schollwöck

Scientific Advisors: Daniel Lidar, Ana Maria Rey, Ulrich Schneider, Monika Schleier-Smith, and Ray Simmonds

Open quantum systems are ubiquitous in nature, as every system will couple at some level to its environment, resulting in competition between coherent and dissipative dynamics. As the ability to control quantum coherence in experiments has progressed, the need to better understand, control, and utilize dissipative non-equilibrium dynamics of quantum systems has grown in importance. Historically this has ranged from fundamental questions associated with quantum measurement, to transformative tools such as optical pumping and laser cooling in quantum optics. Current studies of many-body dynamics of strongly interacting systems on a highly controlled level across a variety of architectures, including ultracold atoms in optical lattices, Rydberg gases, trapped ions, ultracold molecules, superconducting systems, and nano-electro-mechanical systems, offer new opportunities to address deep questions in open quantum systems far from equilibrium. Questions of how best to cool and probe the dynamics of these strongly interacting quantum simulators open further important directions for exploration of open systems. On the theoretical side, quantum simulation methods such as matrix product density operators and quantum trajectories-based methods will be key to both quantum nanodevice design and to explore new regimes of quantum mechanics and quantum measurement, as well as applications to a variety of quantum technologies.

This program will bring together scientists from multiple communities, including AMO, condensed matter, quantum optics, foundational quantum theory, quantum information processing and statistical physics. Working together, we aim to build new connections between theoretical descriptions of open systems and quantum many-body non-equilibrium dynamics, to develop new numerical tools to deal with these in regimes of strong interactions, and to design practical protocols for experimental exploration of open quantum systems – building new paths towards nanodevice design, quantum technologies, and shedding light on strongly correlated quantum dynamics.