Researchers convened at Spazio SOI in Trento, Italy, on September 14 and 15 for the “Dissipative Quantum Chaos 2026” workshop, indicating growing interest in understanding how real-world interactions impact quantum systems. Unlike traditional models that assume isolation, the workshop focused on how environmental interactions reshape chaos, exploring fundamental characterization through non-Hermitian random matrix theory and Lindbladian spectra.
A key theme highlighted experimental platforms, like quantum fluids of light and complex photonic media, where dissipation is not a limitation, but “a resource,” according to workshop materials, offering new avenues for controlling and harnessing quantum behavior. The event aimed to unify perspectives on chaos in open quantum systems, bringing together theorists and experimentalists from institutions including the University of Cambridge and CNR/INO.
Non-Hermitian Theory and Lindbladian Spectra Characterize Dissipative Chaos
These approaches move beyond traditional quantum models assuming isolation, allowing researchers to map the unique signatures of dissipation on quantum dynamics. Alessandro Silva of SISSA and colleagues are applying these theoretical frameworks to understand how environmental interactions reshape the emergence and decay of chaos, a departure from earlier studies focused on perfectly sealed quantum systems. Researchers are investigating how these driven-dissipative systems either rapidly thermalize, scramble information, or, surprisingly, resist chaotic tendencies altogether.
Understanding these dynamics requires a unified approach, as stated by the event’s scientific coordinators, Andrea Legramandi, Leela Ganesh Chandra Lakkaraju, and Philipp Hauke, who aim to chart a comprehensive picture of chaos in open quantum systems, bridging theoretical insights with experimental observations. This focus on open systems acknowledges that real-world quantum devices are inevitably coupled to their surroundings, demanding new analytical techniques to fully understand their behavior.
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