Non-Markovian dynamics of the giant atom beyond the rotating-wave approximation

Quantum Physics arXiv:2601.03383 (quant-ph) [Submitted on 6 Jan 2026] Title:Non-Markovian dynamics of the giant atom beyond the rotating-wave approximation Authors:Mei Yu, Walter T. Strunz, Stefan Nimmrichter View a PDF of the paper titled Non-Markovian dynamics of the giant atom beyond the rotating-wave approximation, by Mei Yu and 1 other authors View PDF HTML (experimental) Abstract:Superconducting qubits coupled to meandering transmission lines or surface acoustic waves may realize giant artificial atoms, whose spatially separated coupling points give rise to long-lived non-Markovian dynamics. Previous studies were limited to the zero-temperature, weak-coupling regime, where the rotating-wave approximation applies and only single-phonon processes contribute. Here we go beyond these limits using the hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM). We show that HEOM accurately captures the exact dynamics at zero temperature and weak coupling, whereas perturbative Redfield theory fails due to long bath memory times. The non-Markovian effects persist at finite temperatures. In the strong-coupling regime, they are further enhanced, and we observe bound-state formation at zero temperature with only two coupling points. These results establish giant atoms as a powerful platform for exploring non-Markovian open quantum dynamics and their applications in quantum information and thermodynamics. Comments: Subjects: Quantum Physics (quant-ph) Cite as: arXiv:2601.03383 [quant-ph] (or arXiv:2601.03383v1 [quant-ph] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2601.03383 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration) Submission history From: Mei Yu [view email] [v1] Tue, 6 Jan 2026 19:35:57 UTC (2,121 KB) Full-text links: Access Paper: View a PDF of the paper titled Non-Markovian dynamics of the giant atom beyond the rotating-wave approximation, by Mei Yu and 1 other authorsView PDFHTML (experimental)TeX Source view license Current browse context: quant-ph new | recent | 2026-01 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?)