Relaxation of a two-level system strongly coupled to a reservoir: Anomalously slow decoherence

Dr. Abraham Kofman

Quantum Optics Group

Weizmann Institute

May, 30, 2002

11:00am, Chem 8335

Relaxation of a two-level system (TLS) into a resonant high-temperature bosonic reservoir is considered. The reservoir can be described by a complex Gaussian-Markovian field. This problem can be relevant for atoms in high-Q cavities and for muon spin depolarisation. Analytical solution of the problem in the strong-coupling limit is obtained. The relaxation of the TLS appears to be nonexponential, the coherence, unexpectedly, decaying much slower then the population.