Environment-induced synchronization of two quantum oscillators

Abstract

Spontaneous synchronization between coupled periodic systems occur in a wealth of classical physical setups. Here, we show theoretically that the phase of two distinct quantum harmonic oscillators spontaneously when they are strongly coupled to a common bosonic quantum dissipative environment at zero temperature, in the absence of any driving mechanism. To do so, we compute the dynamics of the oscillators with an exact master equation obtained from a path integral formalism. Above some value of the system-environment coupling strength, we observe numerically a strongly reduced damping and a frequency locking in the dynamics of the oscillators. Beyond the synchronization mechanism, we also describe the rich phenomenology of the dynamics in the model and notably identify the additional emergence of a regime with long-lived oscillations.