Quadratic open quantum harmonic oscillator (Q2191219)

The Lie algebra \(\mathfrak{sl}_2\) has basis \(\{ B^+, B, M \}\) such that the commutation relations \[ [ B, B^+ ] = M, \quad [ M, B ] = -2 B \quad \text{and} \quad [ M, B^+ ] = 2 B^+ \] are satisfied. Within quantum probability, this algebra is known as the renormalised square of white noise algebra. It has a representation on the simple Fock space \(\mathsf{h} = \ell^2( \mathbb{Z}_+ )\) given by the setting \[ B e_n = \omega_n^{1 / 2} e_{n - 1}, \quad B^+ e_n = \omega_{n + 1}^{1 / 2} e_{n + 1} \quad \text{and} \quad M e_n = ( 2 n + r ) e_n \quad \text{for all }n \geq 0, \] where \(\omega_n = n ( n + r - 1 )\) for some \(r > 0\) and \(( e_n )_{n \geq 0}\) is the canonical basis of \(\mathsf{h}\), and extending each operator to the natural domain of the number operator \(N\), where \(N e_n = n e_n\) for all \(n \geq 0\). For real parameters \(\lambda\), \(\mu\), \(\zeta^+\) and \(\zeta^-\), with \(\mu \geq \lambda > 0\), the formal Gorini-Kossakowski-Sudarshan-Lindblad generator \[ \begin{multlined} \mathcal{L} : x \mapsto -\frac{\lambda^2}{2} ( B B^+ x - 2 B x B^+ + x B B^+ ) \\ -\frac{\mu^2}{2} ( B^+ B x - 2 B^+ x B + x B^+ B ) \\ + \mathrm{i} [ \zeta^+ B B^+ + \zeta^- B^+ B, x ] \end{multlined} \] corresponds at \(x \in B( \mathsf{h} )\) to the sesquilinear form \[ \rlap{-}\mathcal{L}( x ) : ( u, v ) \mapsto \langle G u, x v \rangle +\lambda^2 \langle B^+ u, x B^+ v \rangle +\mu^2 \langle B u, x B v \rangle + \langle u, x G v \rangle \] on the domain of \(N^2\), where the operator \[ G = -\frac{\lambda^2}{2} B B^+ - \frac{\mu^2}{2} B^+ B -\mathrm{i} ( \zeta^+ B B^+ + \zeta^- B^+ B ). \] The minimal quantum Markov semigroup \(\mathcal{T}\) corresponding to this formal generator describes the dynamics of the quadratic open quantum harmonic oscillator. The authors explain why this semigroup exists and is unique. When \(\mu > \lambda\), they give an explicit description of its unique invariant normal state \(\rho\) and show that the action of the predual semigroup \(\mathcal{T}_*\) on any initial state converges to \(\rho\). For \(\lambda = \mu\), it is shown that the semigroup is transient and so has no invariant state. For a suitable choice of parameters, the semigroup \(\mathcal{T}\) is shown to be unitarily equivalent to the quantum Markov semigroup for a two-photon absorption and emission process studied elsewhere. The invariant state \(\rho\) is used to compress the semigroup \(\mathcal{T}\) to obtain a contraction semigroup \(T\) on the space of Hilbert-Schmidt operators on \(\mathsf{h}\). The paper concludes with an analysis of the spectral gap for the generator of \(T\), with an explicit formula obtained for a range of parameters. In particular, if \(r > 2 \lambda^2 / ( \mu^2 - \lambda^2 )\), then the spectral gap is shown to equal \[ \lambda^2 + \frac{r}{2} ( \mu^2 - \lambda^2 ). \] The paper is well written and the arguments are clear. Many of the proofs are obtained by applying results on quantum dynamical semigroups established elsewhere, together with some inspiration from the classical literature.