Quantum Pontus-Mpemba Effect Enabled by the Liouvillian Skin Effect

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2601.14083v1
• Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2026 15:44:14 GMT
• Title: Quantum Pontus-Mpemba Effect Enabled by the Liouvillian Skin Effect
• Authors: Stefano Longhi,
• Abstract summary: We unveil a quantum Pontus-Mpemba effect in a dissipative tight-binding chain with asymmetric incoherent hopping and coherent boundary coupling.<n>The skin effect, induced by non-reciprocal dissipation, localizes relaxation modes near the system boundaries and gives rise to non-orthogonal spectral geometry.
• Score: 0.0
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: We unveil a quantum Pontus-Mpemba effect enabled by the Liouvillian skin effect in a dissipative tight-binding chain with asymmetric incoherent hopping and coherent boundary coupling. The skin effect, induced by non-reciprocal dissipation, localizes relaxation modes near the system boundaries and gives rise to non-orthogonal spectral geometry. While such non-normality is often linked to slow relaxation, we show that it can instead accelerate relaxation through a two-step protocol - realizing a quantum Pontus-Mpemba effect. Specifically, we consider a one-dimensional open chain with coherent hopping $J$, asymmetric incoherent hoppings $J_{\rm R} \neq J_{\rm L}$, and a controllable end-to-end coupling $ε$. For $ε=0$, the system exhibits the Liouvillian skin effect, with left and right eigenmodes localized at opposite edges. We compare two relaxation protocols toward the same stationary state: (i) a direct relaxation with $ε=0$, and (ii) a two-step (Pontus) protocol where a brief coherent evolution transfers the excitation across the lattice before relaxation. Although both share the same asymptotic decay rate, the two-step protocol relaxes significantly faster due to its reduced overlap with the slow boundary-localized Liouvillian mode. The effect disappears when $J_{\rm R}=J_{\rm L}$, i.e., when the skin effect vanishes. Our results reveal a clear connection between boundary-induced non-normality and protocol-dependent relaxation acceleration, suggesting new routes for controlling dissipation and transient dynamics in open quantum systems.

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