Application of perturbation theory to a master equation (Q310422)

Summary: We develop a matrix perturbation method for the Lindblad master equation. The first- and second-order corrections are obtained and the method is generalized for higher orders. The perturbation method developed is applied to the problem of a lossy cavity filled with a Kerr medium; the second-order corrections are estimated and compared with the known exact analytic solution. The comparison is done by calculating the \(Q\)-function, the average number of photons, and the distance between density matrices.