We provide a large class of quantum evolutions governed by the memory kernel master equation. This class defines a quantum analog of so-called semi-Markov classical stochastic dynamics. In this paper we provide a precise definition of quantum semi-Markov evolution, and using the appropriate gauge freedom we propose a suitable generalization which contains a majority of examples considered so far in the literature. The key concepts are quantum counterparts of classical waiting time distribution and survival probability—a quantum waiting time operator and a quantum survival operator, respectively. In particular collision models and their generalizations considered recently are special examples of generalized semi-Markov evolution. This approach allows for an interesting generalization of the trajectory description of the quantum dynamics in terms of positive operator-valued measure densities.

• Received 25 January 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.95.042131