Engineering Nonequilibrium Dynamics of Open Quantum Systems

The international workshop on “Engineering Nonequilibrium Dynamics of Open Quantum Systems” (DYNQOS) took place during the week June 17 - 21, 2019. The focus of the event was on the quantum dynamics of open systems - realistic systems in contact with a surrounding environment- as well as controlled evolution. Fifty senior and junior scientists from sixteen different countries participated in the workshop. The scientific program comprised a total of 33 invited and contributed talks, including a colloquium by Susana Huelga on the applications of open quantum systems to metrology and precision sensing.

Several speakers reported significant advances in the field. To name a few, Howard Carmichael presented results on the experimental control of individual trajectories in continuously monitored quantum systems, a milestone in the study of quantum measurements.  Eric Lutz reported experiments on the reversal of the arrow of time, and Fedor Jelezko discussed the progress on the use of nitrogen-vacancy centers for precision measurements. On the theory side, Sahar Alipour presented a universal description of the evolution of quantum systems correlated with the environment. Luis Pedro Garcia-Pintos discussed the possibility that an observer controls symmetry breaking by monitoring. Other important results reported include shortcuts to adiabaticity in complex systems, ultimate bounds on decoherence, noisy quantum metrology, and boundary time crystals.

In addition to the oral presentations, numerous informal discussions took place, which helped with generating ideas and starting or renewing collaborations. Finally, the poster sessions included 15 high-quality contributions, stimulating lively discussions.