Non-Markovian probes in ultracold gases

We present a detailed investigation of the dynamics of two physically different qubit models, dephasing under the effect of an ultracold atomic gas in a Bose-Einstein-condensed (BEC) state. We study the robustness of each qubit probe against environmental noise; even though the two models appear very similar at a first glance, we demonstrate that they decohere in a strikingly different way. This result holds significance for studies of reservoir engineering as well as for use of the qubits as quantum probes of an ultracold gas. For each model we study whether and when, upon suitable manipulation of the BEC, the dynamics of the qubit can be described by a (non-) Markovian process and consider the the effect of thermal fluctuations on the qubit dynamics. Finally, we provide an intuitive explanation for the phenomena we observe in terms of the spectral density function of the environment. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.87.012127