Non-Markovian dynamics under time-translation symmetry

Abstract

A dynamical symmetry is employed to determine the structure of the quantum non-Markovian time-local master equation. Such a structure is composed from two components: scalar kinetic coefficients and the standard quantum Markovian operator form. The kinetic coefficients are generally time-dependent and incorporate information on the kinematics and memory effects, while the operators manifest the dynamical symmetry. Specifically, we focus on time-translation symmetric dynamics, where the Lindblad jump operators constitute the eigenoperators of the free dynamics. This symmetry is motivated by thermodynamic microscopic considerations, where strict energy conservation between system and environment imposes the time-translation symmetry. The construction is generalized to other symmetries, and to driven quantum systems. The formalism is illustrated by three exactly solvable non-Markovian models, where the exact reduced description exhibits a dynamical symmetric structure. The formal structure of the master equation leads to a first principle calculation of the exact kinetic coefficients. This opens the possibility to simulate in a modular fashion non-Markovian dynamics.