Heisenberg formulation of adiabatic elimination for open quantum systems with two time-scales

Abstract

Consider an open quantum system governed by a Gorini, Kossakowski, Sudarshan, Lindblad (GKSL) master equation with two times-scales: a fast one, exponentially converging towards a linear subspace of quasi-equilibria; a slow one resulting from perturbations (small arbitrary decoherence and Hamiltonian dynamics). Usually adiabatic elimination is performed in the Schr\"odinger picture. We propose here an Heisenberg formulation where the invariant operators attached to the fast decay dynamics towards the quasi-equilibria subspace play a key role. Based on geometric singular perturbations, asympotic expansions of the Heisenberg slow dynamics and of the fast invariant linear subspaces are proposed. They exploit Carr's approximation lemma from center-manifold and bifurcation theory. Second-order expansions are detailed and shown to ensure preservation, up to second-order terms, of the trace and complete positivity for the slow dynamics on a slow time-scale. Such expansions can be exploited numerically.