Catalytic Stabilization of Ergotropy and Backflow Suppression in Open Many-Body Quantum Batteries
Coherent energy backflow and non-Markovian oscillations limit energy retention and degrade extractable work (ergotropy) in open many-body quantum batteries. Here, we present a catalyst-mediated charging protocol for a collective spin-array quantum battery coupled to a laser-driven charger. Using the open-system Lindblad master equation, we examine the energy transfer dynamics when both charger and battery are symmetrically coupled to an off-resonant auxiliary catalytic mode. Numerical simulations reveal that while unassisted bipartite setups exhibit pronounced backflow oscillations and poor energy retention, catalytic mediation quenches transient oscillations and accelerates energy injection. The auxiliary system operates as an energy-invariant conduit, maintaining a constant energy expectation value $\langle H_C(t)\rangle \approx \langle H_C(0)\rangle$ and negligible transient population throughout the evolution. Microscopically, virtual excitations of the catalyst generate an effective complex inter-subsystem coupling $J_{\text{eff}}$, which induces an underdamped-to-overdamped dynamical crossover and introduces selective coherence damping. This mechanism prevents population depletion in the battery, stabilizing the population inversion and significantly increasing the asymptotic steady-state ergotropy with increasing battery size $N_B$. These findings clarify the dissipative dynamics of catalyst-mediated energy transfer and provide a practical scheme for improving storage stability in modern quantum hardware platforms.