Turning Down the Noise: Power-Law Decay and Temporal Phase Transitions

Abstract

We determine the late-time dynamics of a generic spin ensemble with inhomogeneous broadening - equivalently, qubits with arbitrary Zeeman splittings - coupled to a dissipative environment with strength decreasing as $1/t$. The approach to the steady state follows a power law, reflecting the interplay between Hamiltonian dynamics and vanishing dissipation. The decay exponents vary non-analytically with the ramp rate, exhibiting a cusp singularity, and $n$-point correlation functions factorize into one- and two-point contributions. Our exact solution anchors a universality class of open quantum systems with explicitly time-dependent dissipation.

18 pages, 6 figures, updated figures and references