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Steady-state coherences under partial collective non-Markovian decoherence

S. L. Wu1,*, W. Ma1,*, Zhao-Ming Wang2, P. Brumer3, and Lian-Ao Wu4,5,6,†

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: lianao.wu@ehu.es
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043221 – Published 25 November, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/nktx-4ltm

Abstract

Steady-state coherence in open quantum systems is crucial for quantum technologies, yet its behavior is not fully understood due to the interplay between collective and individual decoherence. While collective decoherence is thought to induce steady-state coherence, experiments often fail to observe this because of individual decoherence. We study a system of two harmonic oscillators coupled to both individual and collective environments, introducing a tunable parameter to adjust the decoherence proportions. By analytically solving the exact dynamical equations, we find that steady-state coherence depends on the initial state under collective decoherence, but not under partial decoherence. Interestingly, non-Markovianity induces rich and complex steady-state coherence behaviors. Our results clarify the role of non-Markovian decoherence in quantum systems and provide a benchmark for assessing approximate methods for modeling quantum processes.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 043221– Published 25 November, 2025
  • Received 6 May 2025
  • Accepted 28 October 2025
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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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