Turning Loss into Insight: New Method Uses Dissipation to Probe Quantum Correlat

allanweton

Quantum systems are notoriously sensitive to dissipation—a process that results in the irreversible loss of energy and is commonly associated with decoherence. Decoherence refers to the breakdown of quantum coherence, where interactions with the surrounding environment disrupt the delicate superposition of states essential to quantum behavior.

Traditionally seen as a challenge to be minimized, dissipation has now been reimagined as a powerful investigative tool. Researchers at Tsinghua University have demonstrated that dissipation can, in fact, offer new insights into strongly correlated quantum systems. Their findings, published in Nature Physics, present a novel method for probing quantum many-body correlations in one-dimensional (1D) quantum gases.

“Our work was inspired by developments in open quantum systems and non-Hermitian physics,” said Yajuan Zhao, first author of the study. “Rather than treating dissipation solely as a source of decoherence, we used it as a tool to uncover hidden quantum correlations.”

The research team focused on 1D Bose gases—systems of ultracold rubidium-87 atoms confined within a 2D optical lattice, forming an array of 1D tubes. By introducing controlled dissipation using near-resonant laser light, they induced one-body atom loss and monitored the rate of atom decay through absorption imaging.

What they observed was not a simple exponential decay as commonly expected, but a stretched-exponential decay pattern. Remarkably, the stretching exponent—a key characteristic of this decay—proved to be a universal property determined only by the interaction strength within the system. It was independent of the nature of the dissipation and robust against thermal fluctuations.

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“The exponent reflects the anomalous dimension of the Luttinger liquid—a hallmark of 1D strongly correlated systems,” Zhao explained. “This offers a direct way to probe the spectral function, something very difficult to achieve in closed systems.”

By using dissipation as a probe, the researchers were able to extract measurements of quantum correlations that are typically inaccessible with conventional approaches based on closed-system dynamics and Hermitian operators.

One of the most significant results of the study is the demonstration that atom number decay under finely tuned dissipation follows a universal stretched-exponential law. This behavior is tied to fundamental quantum properties, revealing the deep connection between dissipation and correlation in open quantum systems.

“Our experiment provides a new and experimentally viable method for studying quantum correlations,” said Zhao. “It confirms that dissipation can be used constructively, extending traditional linear response theories to systems that interact with their environment.”

Looking ahead, the team plans to apply this dissipative probe technique to explore other quantum many-body phenomena, such as spin-charge separation and non-Fermi liquid behavior—key concepts in the study of high-temperature superconductors.

This breakthrough not only deepens our understanding of quantum matter but may also pave the way for novel quantum technologies that harness, rather than avoid, the effects of dissipation.