The Geometry of Quantum Complexity in Open Systems

Abstract

We extend Nielsen's geometric approach for quantum complexity from closed to open quantum systems, whose dynamics is governed by Lindbladian evolution. In this framework, complexity is defined through an optimal-control problem on the space of mixed states, with a cost assigned to both unitary and non-unitary generators. We show that the resulting geometric structure differs fundamentally from the Riemannian geometry that emerges in the case of unitary evolution. In the open-system setting, the natural geometry is typically sub-Finslerian. Dissipation makes the geodesics non-reversible, while the admissible tangent directions are restricted by the physically allowed controls. We analyze several physically motivated examples, including a single qubit subject to depolarizing and amplitude-damping channels, as well as the damped harmonic oscillator. We show that, similarly to the unitary case, varying the penalty factors in the cost functional modifies the geometric properties through changes in the flag curvature, the Finslerian analog of sectional curvature. Our results provide a geometric framework for quantifying the abstract notion of complexity in dissipative quantum systems, with potential connections to experimentally realizable setups.