The early universe as an open quantum system: complexity and decoherence

Abstract

Abstract In this work, we extend previous results, demonstrating how complexity in an open quantum system can identify decoherence between two fields, even in the presence of an accelerating background. Using the curved-space Caldeira-Leggett two-field model in de Sitter as our toy model, we discover a distinctive feature, namely the appearance of a bump in the growth of complexity of purification, providing an alternative diagnostic for studying decoherence when the adiabatic perturbation is coupled to a heavy field. This paper initiates a new pathway to explore the features of quantum complexity in an accelerating background, thereby expanding our understanding of the evolution of primordial cosmological perturbations in the early universe.