Nonadiabatic master equation for a linearly driven harmonic oscillator

Abstract

We derive a Markovian master equation for a linearly driven dissipative quantum harmonic oscillator, valid for generic driving beyond the adiabatic limit. We solve this quantum master equation for arbitrary Gaussian initial states and investigate its departure from the adiabatic master equation in the regime of fast driving. We concretely examine the behavior of dynamical variables, such as position and momentum, as well as of thermodynamic quantities, such as energy and entropy. We additionally study the influence of the nonequilibrium driving on the quantum coherence of the oscillator in the instantaneous energy eigenbasis. We further analyze the approach to the adiabatic limit and the relaxation to the instantaneous steady state as a function of the driving speed.