Marco Merkli

OS Mathematical Physics February 10 16:00

Markovianity in quantum dynamics

When two quantum systems interact, they become entangled. This causes the dynamics of each system to be non-Markovian. However, if one of the two systems is very large, allowing for local information to be quickly dissipated, then one can expect the dynamics to be close to Markovian. This leads to the ubiquitous master equation, which approximates the evolution of an open quantum system, replacing the Schrödinger equation valid for closed ones. The physical mechanisms of the approximation has been known for a long time - a rigorous proof of its validity is more recent. We present an overview of some mathematical results and methods in this research area.