ABSTRACT: I develop a Born-Markov master equation for a chain of coupled spin-boson models. Each subsystem is treated as an effectively unbiased two-level system, or qubit, dissipating independently into an ohmic bath of oscillators. For a few qubits, I show how the low-temperature bath causes the chain to dissipate and decohere at selection-ruled rates that thermalize the chain. The independent dissipation of each qubit can induce entanglement and, in resonant transitions, can cause coherence to flow, along with the populations, into a less decoherent subspace.

Contact: Bei-Lok Hu