Abstract
In an open system, the geometric phase should be described by a distribution. We show that a geometric phase distribution for open system dynamics is in general ambiguous, but the imposition of reasonable physical constraints on the environment and its coupling with the system yields a unique geometric phase distribution that applies even for mixed states, nonunitary dynamics, and noncyclic evolutions.
- Received 11 May 2004
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.260402
©2004 American Physical Society