A novel scheme for modelling dissipation or thermalization in open quantum systems

In this letter, we introduce a novel method for investigating dissipation or thermalization in an open quantum system. In this method, the quantum system is coupled linearly with a copy of itself or with another system described by a finite number of bosonic operators. The time-dependent coupling functions play a fundamental role in this scheme. To demonstrate the efficacy and significance of this method, we apply it to examine several important and ubiquitous open quantum systems. Firstly, we investigate a quantum oscillator in the presence of a thermal bath at the inverse temperature, obtaining the reduced density matrix, the Husimi distribution function, and the quantum heat distribution function accurately. The results are consistent with existing literature by appropriate choices for the time-dependent coupling function. To illustrate the generalizability of this method to systems interacting with multiple thermal baths, we study the interaction of a quantum oscillator with two thermal baths at different temperatures and obtain compatible results. Subsequently, we analyze a two-level atom with energy or phase dissipation and derive the spontaneous emission and the pure dephasing processes consistently using the new method. Finally, we investigate Markovian and non-Markovian processes in a dissipative two-level atom and observe that these processes depend on the coupling strength g₀, and the non-Markovian property increases with an increase in g₀.