Coherent many-body dynamics between a quantum system and its environment

Quantum physics is currently under transformation from its traditional role of fundamental understanding of matter to an active control tool for technological application. This requires on the basic science level the development of new tools and new understanding of previously marginal phenomena. A major component is that a quantum application requires driving by time dependent fields for both control and measurement. The environment in which a quantum system is embedded takes here an important role, often considered as an inhibitor of quantum information processing through decoherence. In this project we explore the possibility to include the environment as an active favourable player in quantum state manipulation. We build on previously acquired systematic method to include coherent fluctuations between the system and the environment, going past the usual Markov approximation. A special emphasis will be on the role of strong correlation physics in the coupled system's dynamics and the treatment of spatial and temporal coherence on the same footing. This will provide us with an understanding how to exploit the quantum nature of the environment itself and use it in a targeted way as a tool to achieve a quantum manipulation of the proper quantum system. As a special application the basic underpinning of magnetic resonance techniques could be re-examined, bringing the theoretical foundations of these important applications up to date with the tremendous experimental progress in low temperature physics and strong correlation physics that is bringing the current theoretical framework to its limits.