Decoherence by engineered quantum baths

Optical lattices can be used to simulate quantum baths and hence they can be of fundamental help to study, in a controlled way, the emergence of decoherence in quantum systems. Here we show how to implement a pure dephasing model for a two-level system coupled to an interacting spin bath. In this scheme it is possible to implement a large variety of spin environments embracing Ising, XY and Heisenberg universality classes. After having introduced the model, we calculate exactly the decoherence for the Ising and the XY spin bath model. We find universal features depending on the critical behaviour of the spin bath, both in the short- and long-time limits. The rich scenario that emerges can be tested experimentally and can be of importance for the understanding of the coherence loss in open quantum systems. © 2007 IOP Publishing Ltd.