Quantifying Non-Markovianity in Open Quantum Dynamics

Abstract

Characterization of non-Markovian open quantum dynamics is both of theoretical and practical relevance. In a seminal work [Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 040405 (2018)], a necessary and sufficient quantum Markov condition is proposed, with a clear operational interpretation and correspondence with the classical limit. Here we propose two non-Markovianity measures for general open quantum dynamics, which are fully reconciled with the Markovian limit and can be efficiently calculated based on the multi-time quantum measurements of the system. A heuristic algorithm for reconstructing the underlying open quantum dynamics is proposed, whose complexity is directly related to the proposed non-Markovianity measures. The non-Markovianity measures and the reconstruction algorithm are demonstrated with numerical examples, together with a careful reexamination of the non-Markovianity in quantum dephasing dynamics.