Two coupled qubits interacting with a thermal bath: A comparative study of different models

What is it about?

A simple quantum system (two atoms) is assumed to be in contact with a thermal reservoir. We compare two models of interaction - a naive (phenomenological) model with a more realistic (microscopic) model. We calculate several quantities related to the two-atom system and compare the results.

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Why is it important?

We have shown that widely used phenomenological models may give misleading results even in the weak coupling regime (atom-atom interaction). We thus issue a warning about the apparent indiscriminate use of such models, as some "anomalous" effects associated to that kind of system have been reported in the literature lately.