We develop an exact framework for describing the non-Markovian dynamics of an open quantum system interacting with an environment modeled by a generalized spectral density function. The approach relies on mapping the initial system onto an auxiliary configuration, comprising the original open system coupled to a small number of discrete modes, which in turn are each coupled to an independent Markovian reservoir. Based on the connection between the discrete modes and the poles of the spectral density function, we show how expanding the system using the discrete modes allows for the full inclusion non-Markovian effects within an enlarged open system whose dynamics is governed by an exact Lindblad master equation. Initially we apply this result to obtain a generalization of the pseudomode method [B. M. Garraway, Phys. Rev. A. 55, 2290 (1997)] in cases where the spectral density function has a Lorentzian structure. For many other types of spectral density function, we extend our proof to show that an open system dynamics may be modeled physically using discrete modes which admit a non-Hermitian coupling to the system and for such cases determine the equivalent master equation to no longer be of Lindblad form. For applications involving two discrete modes, we demonstrate how to convert between pathological and Lindblad forms of the master equation using the techniques of the pseudomode method.

Quantum Darwinism extends the traditional formalism of decoherence to explain the emergence of classicality in a quantum universe. A classical description emerges when the environment tends to redundantly acquire information about the pointer states of an open system. In light of recent interest, we apply the theoretical tools of the framework to a qubit coupled with many bosonic subenvironments. We examine the degree to which the same classical information is encoded across collections of (i) complete subenvironments and (ii) residual “pseudomode” components of each subenvironment, the conception of which provides a dynamic representation of the reservoir memory. Overall, significant redundancy of information is found as a typical result of the decoherence process. However, by examining its decomposition in terms of classical and quantum correlations, we discover classical information to be nonredundant in both cases i and ii. Moreover, with the full collection of pseudomodes, certain dynamical regimes realize opposite effects, where either the total classical or quantum correlations predominantly decay over time. Finally, when the dynamics are non-Markovian, we find that redundant information is suppressed in line with information backflow to the qubit. By quantifying redundancy, we concretely show it to act as a witness to non-Markovianity in the same way as the trace distance does for nondivisible dynamical maps.

While strong system-bath coupling produces rich and interesting phenomena, applications to quantum thermal engines have been so far pointing mainly at detrimental effects. The delicate trade-off between efficiency loss due to strong coupling and power increase due to faster equilibration, while acknowledged, remains largely unexplored owing to the challenge of assessing the equilibration time precisely. Here, we overcome this obstacle by exploiting exact numerical simulations based on the hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM) formalism. We show that a quantum Otto cycle can perform better at strong (but not ultrastrong) coupling in that the product of the efficiency and that output power is maximized in this regime. In particular, we show that strong coupling allows one to obtain engines with larger efficiency than their weakly coupled counterparts, while sharing the same output power. Conversely, one can design strongly coupled engines with larger power than their weakly coupled counterparts, while sharing the same efficiency. Overall, our results provide situations where strong coupling can directly enhance the performance of thermodynamic operations, reinforcing the importance of studying quantum thermal engines beyond standard configurations.

We apply the hierarchical equations of motion technique to analyzing nonequilibrium heat transport in a spin-boson type model, whereby heat transfer through a central spin is mediated by an intermediate pair of coupled harmonic oscillators. The coupling between each pair of oscillators is shown to introduce a localized gap into the effective spectral densities characterizing the system–oscillator–reservoir interactions. Compared to the case of a single mediating oscillator, we find the heat current to be drastically modified at weak system-bath coupling. In particular, a second-order treatment fails to capture the correct steady-state behavior in this regime, which stems from the λ ⁴-scaling of the energy transfer rate to lowest order in the coupling strength λ. This leads naturally to a strong suppression in the steady-state current in the asymptotically weak coupling limit. On the other hand, the current noise follows the same scaling as in the single oscillator case in accordance with the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. Additionally, we find the heat current to be consistent with Fourier’s law even at large temperature bias. Our analysis highlights a novel mechanism for controlling heat transport in nanoscale systems based on tailoring the spectral properties of thermal environments.

Collision models (CMs) describe an open system interacting in sequence with elements of an environment, termed ancillas. They have been established as a useful tool for analyzing non-Markovian open quantum dynamics based on the ability to control the environmental memory through simple feedback mechanisms. In this work, we investigate how ancilla–ancilla (AA) entanglement can serve as a mechanism for controlling the non-Markovianity of an open system, focusing on an operational approach to generating correlations within the environment. To this end, we first demonstrate that the open dynamics of CMs with sequentially generated correlations between groups of ancillas can be mapped onto a composite CM, where the memory part of the environment is incorporated into an enlarged Markovian system. We then apply this framework to an all-qubit CM, and show that non-Markovian behavior emerges only when the next incoming pair of ancillas are entangled prior to colliding with the system. On the other hand, when system-ancilla collisions precede AA entanglement, we find the open dynamics to always be Markovian. Our findings highlight how certain qualitative features of inter-ancilla correlations can strongly influence the onset of system non-Markovianity.

We present a general open-quantum-system framework to model decoherence induced by stochastic Planck-scale fluctuations of spacetime, focusing on the κ -Minkowski noncommutative geometry as a representative quantum gravity scenario. Treating the deformation parameter as Gaussian white noise, we derive a Lindblad-type master equation applicable to arbitrary quantum systems and obtain a distinctive inverse-energy scaling of the decoherence rate, Γ ∝ E − 4 . As an illustrative example, we analyze a three-level system motivated by neutrino flavor oscillations and derive closed-form expressions for survival and transition probabilities with spacetime-induced damping. The E − 4 scaling contrasts sharply with the positive power laws often invoked in quantum gravity phenomenology and predicts negligible decoherence for high-energy neutrinos—consistent with IceCube observations—while implying that the strongest effects arise in the extreme low-energy regime. In this context, the sub-eV-scale energies characteristic of the cosmic neutrino background provide a natural infrared benchmark for illustrating the enhanced sensitivity to quantum spacetime fluctuations. Our results establish a unified formalism connecting quantum information methods, open-system dynamics, and quantum spacetime phenomenology, thereby offering a framework for exploring potential signatures of Planck-scale physics in future low-energy neutrino studies.