Stronger Entanglement Dies Faster: Quantum Mpemba Effect in Dissipative Qubits
Abstract
In classical thermodynamics, the Mpemba effect refers to the counterintuitive observation that hot water can freeze faster than cold water, manifesting as an anomalous crossing of dynamical trajectories. While analogues of this phenomenon have been explored in open quantum systems and spin-chain entanglement asymmetry, its connection to the finite-time loss of entanglement remains elusive. In this work, we report a distinct Mpemba effect for quantum entanglement in a dissipative quantum system associated with entanglement sudden death (ESD). By analyzing two qubits interacting with local amplitude damping reservoirs, we demonstrate that a more strongly entangled initial state can experience a faster collapse into a separable state than a more weakly entangled state. This anomalous decay stems from the competition between initial coherence and excited-state population, where the latter acts as a catalyst for ESD. We provide exact analytical derivations for the trajectory crossover and ESD time, and map the phase diagram to precisely identify the parameter regime where the effect occurs. Our results offer a new strategy for controlling the lifetime of quantum resources in dissipative environments.
Related
- Quantum Computing for Entanglement Asymmetry and the Quantum Mpemba Effect in Field Theory
- Fixed Points, Floquet Entanglement Asymmetry, and Quantum Mpemba Effects
- Non-Hermitian topology in driven-dissipative systems: correspondence with quantum correlations and a resource for entanglement
- Geodesic steering for rapid dissipative entanglement distribution
- Mpemba effects in quantum complexity
BibTeX
@misc{liu2026stronger,
title = {{Stronger Entanglement Dies Faster: Quantum Mpemba Effect in Dissipative Qubits}},
author = {Zhilong Liu and Zehua Tian and Jieci Wang},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2605.23197},
eprint = {2605.23197},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.23197},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Stronger Entanglement Dies Faster: Quantum Mpemba Effect in Dissipative Qubits
AU - Zhilong Liu
AU - Zehua Tian
AU - Jieci Wang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2605.23197
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.23197
AB - In classical thermodynamics, the Mpemba effect refers to the counterintuitive observation that hot water can freeze faster than cold water, manifesting as an anomalous crossing of dynamical trajectories. While analogues of this phenomenon have been explored in open quantum systems and spin-chain entanglement asymmetry, its connection to the finite-time loss of entanglement remains elusive. In this work, we report a distinct Mpemba effect for quantum entanglement in a dissipative quantum system associated with entanglement sudden death (ESD). By analyzing two qubits interacting with local amplitude damping reservoirs, we demonstrate that a more strongly entangled initial state can experience a faster collapse into a separable state than a more weakly entangled state. This anomalous decay stems from the competition between initial coherence and excited-state population, where the latter acts as a catalyst for ESD. We provide exact analytical derivations for the trajectory crossover and ESD time, and map the phase diagram to precisely identify the parameter regime where the effect occurs. Our results offer a new strategy for controlling the lifetime of quantum resources in dissipative environments.
ER -