Decoherence and entanglement of a linear chain of dipole coupled atoms

The time evolution of short linear chains consisting of dipole coupled two-level systems (atoms) is investigated under the influence of oscillator modes, which represent the environment. The dynamics of the system is calculated using the super-radiant master equation. The focus is on phenomena related to the environment induced decoherence and entanglement degradation. For large atomic distances the initially present pair entanglement is destroyed independently from the spatial position of the two atoms, while when the distance between the atoms becomes comparable to the resonant wavelength the rate of entanglement degradation corresponds to the strength of the pair interaction. Below one resonant wavelength of atomic separation, formation of pair entanglement is also possible in the initial stage of the time evolution. In this case it is found that pair entanglement is formed and destroyed periodically, and the strengths of the consecutive 'entanglement revivals' are damped depending on the initial state. The subradiant states, for which decoherence is slow, also preserve pair entanglements for an exceptionally long time.