Threshold for nonthermal stabilization of open quantum systems

Abstract

We generally study whether or not the information of open quantum systems would be totally erased by their surrounding environments in thermalization processes. A complex system composed of a harmonic oscillator and its environment is studied. When the interaction spectral density contains zero-value regions, there is a threshold of system-bath coupling, ${\ensuremath{\eta}}_{c}$, above which the initial information of the system partially remains. We estimated this threshold by the properties of the system and its bath, i.e., the density of the environment states. Thus, its long-time stabilization deviates from the usual thermalization. This nonthermal stabilization happens as a non-Markovian effect.