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Quantum dynamical entropy and non-Markovianity: A collisional model perspective

Giovanni Nichele1,2,3,* and Fabio Benatti2,3

  • *Contact author: gnichele@umk.pl
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Phys. Rev. A 114, 052406 – Published 2 November, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/qv8g-x9k5

Abstract

Accessing the physical mechanisms behind non-Markovian phenomena in open quantum dynamics requires the study of the full multitime statistical properties of the joint system-environment dynamics. This is impossible at the level of the reduced dynamics of the open system alone as the latter is obtained by suitably eliminating the environment. The task is instead made possible by considering multitime correlation functions involving observables of the open system, only: the open system-environment interactions turn them into global ones, thus building up correlations between the two systems. Multitime correlations form the basis of both the theory of quantum stochastic processes and of the Alicki-Lindblad-Fannes dynamical entropy (ALF entropy for short). This latter quantity provides for quantum systems a measure of the dynamical entropy production as the Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy does for classical systems. Indeed, in the following we propose the open-system ALF entropy as a measure of non-Markovianity signaling deviations from the so-called quantum regression regime. In turn, the operational interpretation of the open-system ALF entropy makes it a suitable witness of backflow of information from the environment to the open system. In the case of a collisional model whereby the dissipative dynamics of a finite-level system is obtained by its coupling to an infinite classical spin chain, the ALF entropy can be explicitly computed. It turns out to depend on the parameters characterizing the statistical properties of the environment and can be related to the activation and superactivation of memory effects in the open quantum system.

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Quantum dynamical entropy and dissipative information flows

Giovanni Nichele and Fabio Benatti
APS Open Sci. 1, L000196 (2026)

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Phys. Rev. A 114, 052406– Published 2 November, 2026
  • Received 14 March 2026
  • Accepted 7 October 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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