Detecting Initial System-Environment Correlations from a Single Observable
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Quantum Physics arXiv:2602.18516 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 19 Feb 2026] Title:Detecting Initial System-Environment Correlations from a Single Observable Authors:Ali Abu-Nada, Russell Ceballos, Lian-Ao Wu View a PDF of the paper titled Detecting Initial System-Environment Correlations from a Single Observable, by Ali Abu-Nada and Russell Ceballos and Lian-Ao Wu View PDF Abstract:We address the problem of detecting initial system--environment correlations when the environment is not directly accessible. Most existing approaches rely on full state tomography or multiple system preparations, which can be experimentally demanding. We show that, for a known interaction, it can be sufficient to monitor a single expectation value of the system. Focusing on a qubit interacting with an environment via isotropic Heisenberg exchange, we derive exact bounds on the signal $z(t)=\langle\sigma_z^S\rangle(t)$ that hold for all factorized initial states. These bounds define a \emph{factorized envelope}: if an observed trajectory exits this envelope at any time, initial system--environment correlations are certified. From a reduced-dynamics perspective, the envelope admits a clear operational interpretation as the admissible region generated by the standard product assignment (embedding) map, which serves as a null model for uncorrelated preparations. Envelope violations therefore rule out the entire product-assignment class using only a single calibrated observable. We illustrate the method using three families of correlated initial states and observe clear envelope violations, including cases in which the reduced system state is maximally mixed. We further show that the same single-observable logic extends to an exactly solvable pure-dephasing spin--boson model with an infinite environment, where factorized initial states generate a simple coherence envelope whose violation certifies initial correlations. Overall, our results demonstrate that single-axis measurements, combined with a one-time calibration of $\rho_S(0)$, can certify initial system--environment correlations without tomography or environment access. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph) Cite as: arXiv:2602.18516 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2602.18516v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2602.18516 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Ali Abu-Nada [view email] [v1] Thu, 19 Feb 2026 19:37:36 UTC (688 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Detecting Initial System-Environment Correlations from a Single Observable, by Ali Abu-Nada and Russell Ceballos and Lian-Ao WuView PDFTeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-02 References & Citations INSPIRE HEP NASA ADSGoogle Scholar Semantic Scholar export BibTeX citation Loading... BibTeX formatted citation × loading... Data provided by: Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article alphaXiv Toggle alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?) Links to Code Toggle CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?) DagsHub Toggle DagsHub (What is DagsHub?) GotitPub Toggle Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?) Huggingface Toggle Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?) Links to Code Toggle Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?) ScienceCast Toggle ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?) Demos Demos Replicate Toggle Replicate (What is Replicate?) Spaces Toggle Hugging Face Spaces (What is Spaces?) Spaces Toggle TXYZ.AI (What is TXYZ.AI?) Related Papers Recommenders and Search Tools Link to Influence Flower Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?) Core recommender toggle CORE Recommender (What is CORE?) Author Venue Institution Topic About arXivLabs arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website. Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them. Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs. Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)