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We present an extensive introduction to quantum collision models (CMs), also known as repeated interactions schemes: a class of microscopic system-bath models for investigating open quantum systems dynamics whose use is currently spreading in a number of research areas. Through dedicated sections and a pedagogical approach, we discuss the CMs definition and general properties, their use for the derivation of master equations, their connection with quantum trajectories, their application in non-equilibrium quantum thermodynamics, their non-Markovian generalizations, their emergence from conventional system-bath microscopic models and link to the input-output formalism. The state of the art of each involved research area is reviewed through dedicated sections. The article is supported by several complementary appendices, which review standard concepts/tools of open quantum systems used in the main text with the goal of making the material accessible even to readers possessing only a basic background in quantum mechanics. The paper could also be seen itself as a friendly, physically intuitive, introduction to fundamentals of open quantum systems theory since most main concepts of this are treated such as quantum maps, Lindblad master equation, steady states, POVMs, quantum trajectories and stochastic Schrodinger equation., Comment: 159 pages, 20 figures. Extensive pedagogical review on quantum collision models (aka repeated interactions schemes)

We use a reinforcement learning approach to reduce entropy production in a closed quantum system brought out of equilibrium. Our strategy makes use of an external control Hamiltonian and a policy gradient technique. Our approach bears no dependence on the quantitative tool chosen to characterize the degree of thermodynamic irreversibility induced by the dynamical process being considered, require little knowledge of the dynamics itself and does not need the tracking of the quantum state of the system during the evolution, thus embodying an experimentally non-demanding approach to the control of non-equilibrium quantum thermodynamics. We successfully apply our methods to the case of single- and two-particle systems subjected to time-dependent driving potentials.

We study the dynamics of correlations in a paradigmatic setup to observe PT -symmetric physics: a pair of coupled oscillators, one subject to a gain one to a loss. Starting from a coherent state, quantum correlations (QCs) are created, despite the system being driven only incoherently, and can survive indefinitely. Both total and QCs exhibit different scalings of their long-time behavior in the PT -broken/unbroken phase and at the exceptional point (EP). In particular, PT symmetry breaking is accompanied by non-zero stationary QCs. This is analytically shown and quantitatively explained in terms of entropy balance. The EP in particular stands out as the most classical configuration, as classical correlations diverge while QCs vanish.

We study the emergence of synchronisation in a chiral network of harmonic oscillators. The network consists of a set of locally incoherently pumped harmonic oscillators coupled pairwise in cascade with travelling field modes. Such cascaded coupling leads to feedback-less dissipative interaction between the harmonic oscillators of the pair which can be described in terms of an effective pairwise hamiltonian a collective pairwise decay. The network is described mathematically in terms of a directed graph. By analysing geometries of increasing complexity we show how the onset of synchronisation depends strongly on the network topology, with the emergence of synchronised communities in the case of complex networks. The quantum nature of the non local correlation between network nodes is assessed., SL and GMP acknowledge support by MUR under PRIN Project No. 2017 SRN-BRK QUSHIP, RZ acknowledges support from MINECO/AEI/FEDER through projects QUARESC PID2019-109094GB-C21 and the María de Maeztu Program for Units of Excellence in R&D (MDM-2017-0711).

Quantum Darwinism attempts to explain the emergence of objective reality of the state of a quantum system in terms of redundant information about the system acquired by independent non interacting fragments of the environment. The consideration of interacting environmental elements gives rise to a rich phenomenology, including the occurrence of non-Markovian features, whose effects on objectification {\it a' la} quantum Darwinism needs to be fully understood. We study a model of local interaction between a simple quantum system and a multi-mode environment that allows for a clear investigation of the interplay between information trapping and propagation in the environment and the emergence of quantum Darwinism. We provide strong evidence of the correlation between non-Markovianity and quantum Darwinism in such a model, thus providing strong evidence of a potential link between such fundamental phenomena., Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures

Quantum non-Markovianity and quantum Darwinism are two phenomena linked by a common theme: the flux of quantum information between a quantum system and the quantum environment it interacts with. In this work, making use of a quantum collision model, a formalism initiated by Sudarshan and his school, we will analyse the efficiency with which the information about a single qubit gained by a quantum harmonic oscillator, acting as a meter, is transferred to a bosonic environment. We will show how, in some regimes, such quantum information flux is inefficient, leading to the simultaneous emergence of non-Markovian and non-darwinistic behaviours.

We study the non-equilibrium evolution of a one-dimensional quantum Ising chain with spatially disordered, time-dependent, transverse fields characterised by white noise correlation dynamics. We establish pre-thermalization in this model, showing that the quench dynamics of the on-site transverse magnetisation first approaches a metastable state unaffected by noise fluctuations, and then relaxes exponentially fast towards an infinite temperature state as a result of the noise. We also consider energy transport in the model, starting from an inhomogeneous state with two domain walls which separate regions characterised by spins with opposite transverse magnetization. We observe at intermediate time scales a phenomenology akin to Anderson localization: energy remains localised within the two domain walls, until the Markovian noise destroys coherence and accordingly disorder-induced localization, allowing the system to relax towards the late stages of its non-equilibrium dynamics. We benchmark our results with the simpler case of a noisy quantum Ising chain without disorder, and we find that the pre-thermal plateau is a generic property of weakly noisy spin chains, while the phenomenon of pre-thermal Anderson localisation is a specific feature arising from the competition of noise and disorder in the real-time transport properties of the system., 6 pages, 3 figures

In this paper we investigate the properties of distinguishability of an orthogonal set of product states of two three level particle system by a simple class of joint measures. Here we confine ourselves to a system of analysis built up of linear elements, such as beam splitters and phase shifters, delay lines, electronically switched linear devices and auxiliary photons. We present here the impossibility of realization of a perfect never falling analyzer with this tools.

A well-known situation in which a non-Markovian dynamics of an open quantum system $S$ arises is when this is coherently coupled to an auxiliary system $M$ in contact with a Markovian bath. In such cases, while the joint dynamics of $S$-$M$ is Markovian and obeys a standard (bipartite) Lindblad-type master equation (ME), this is in general not true for the reduced dynamics of $S$. Furthermore, there are several instances (\eg the dissipative Jaynes-Cummings model) in which a {\it closed} ME for the $S$'s state {\it cannot} even be worked out. Here, we find a class of bipartite Lindblad-type MEs such that the reduced ME of $S$ can be derived exactly and in a closed form for any initial product state of $S$-$M$. We provide a detailed microscopic derivation of our result in terms of a mapping between two collision models, Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure