Quantum fidelity of Gaussian states in open systems

Using the expression of the fidelity for the most general Gaussian quantum states, the behaviour of the quantum fidelity is described for the states of a harmonic oscillator interacting with an environment, in particular with a thermal bath. By taking a correlated squeezed Gaussian state as initial state, we calculate the quantum fidelity for both kinds of undisplaced and displaced states, and for different values of the squeezing and correlation parameters and of the environment temperature. © 2009 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.