title: Understanding the Fundamental Connection Between Electronic Correlation and Decoherence.
abstract: We introduce a theory that exposes the fundamental and previously overlooked connection between the correlation among electrons and the degree of quantum coherence of electronic states in matter. For arbitrary states, the effects only decouple when the electronic dynamics induced by the nuclear bath is pure-dephasing in nature such that [H(S),H(SB)] = 0, where H(S) is the electronic Hamiltonian and H(SB) is the electron-nuclear coupling. We quantitatively illustrate this connection via exact simulations of a Hubbard-Holstein molecule using the Hierarchical Equations of Motion that show that increasing the degree of electronic interactions can enhance or suppress the rate of electronic coherence loss.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and The Center for Coherence and Quantum Optics, University of Rochester , Rochester, New York 14627, United States.
authors.forename: Arnab
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kar
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and The Center for Coherence and Quantum Optics, University of Rochester , Rochester, New York 14627, United States.
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and The Center for Coherence and Quantum Optics, University of Rochester , Rochester, New York 14627, United States.
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Franco