Obtaining pure steady states in nonequilibrium quantum systems with strong dissipative couplings

Abstract

Dissipative preparation of a pure steady state usually involves a commutative action of a coherent and a dissipative dynamics on the target state. Namely, the target pure state is an eigenstate of both the coherent and dissipative parts of the dynamics. We show that working in the Zeno regime, i.e. for infinitely large dissipative coupling, one can generate a pure state by a non commutative action, in the above sense, of the coherent and dissipative dynamics. A corresponding Zeno regime pureness criterion is derived. We illustrate the approach, looking at both its theoretical and applicative aspects, in the example case of an open $XXZ$ spin-$1/2$ chain, driven out of equilibrium by boundary reservoirs targeting different spin orientations. Using our criterion, we find two families of pure nonequilibrium steady states, in the Zeno regime, and calculate the dissipative strengths effectively needed to generate steady states which are almost indistinguishable from the target pure states.