Out-of-time-ordered correlation functions in open systems: A Feynman-Vernon influence functional approach

Recent theoretical and experimental studies have shown the significance of quantum information scrambling (i.e., the spread of quantum information over a system's degrees of freedom) for problems encountered in high-energy physics, quantum information, and condensed matter. Due to the complexity of quantum many-body systems it is plausible that new developments in this field will be achieved by experimental explorations. Since noise effects are inevitably present in experimental implementations, a better theoretical understanding is needed of quantum information scrambling in systems affected by noise. To address this problem we study indicators of quantum scrambling---out-of-time-ordered correlation functions (OTOCs) in open quantum systems. As most experimental protocols for measuring OTOCs are based on backward time evolution, we consider two possible scenarios of joint system-environment dynamics reversal: In the first one the evolution of the environment is reversed, whereas in the second it is not. We derive general formulas for OTOCs in those cases and study in detail the model of a spin chain coupled to the environment of harmonic oscillators. In the latter case we derive expressions for open-system OTOCs in terms of the Feynman-Vernon influence functional. Subsequently, assuming that dephasing dominates over dissipation, we provide bounds on open-system OTOCs and illustrate them for a spectral density known from the spin-boson problem. In addition to being significant for quantum information scrambling, the results also advance the understanding of decoherence in processes involving backward time evolution.