Non-Markovian features in semiconductor quantum optics: quantifying the role of phonons in experiment and theory

We discuss phonon-induced non-Markovian and Markovian features in QD-based quantum nanooptics. We cover lineshapes in linear absorption experiments, phonon-induced incoherence in the Heitler regime, and memory correlations in two-photon coherences. To qualitatively and quantitatively understand the underlying physics, we present several theoretical models that capture the non-Markovian properties of the electron–phonon interaction accurately in different regimes. Examples are the Heisenberg equation of motion approach, the polaron master equation, and Liouville propagator techniques in the independent boson limit and beyond via the path integral method. Phenomenological modeling overestimates typically the dephasing due to the finite memory kernel of phonons and we give instructive examples of phonon-mediated coherence such as phonon-dressed anticrossings in Mollow physics, robust quantum state preparation, cavity feeding, and the stabilization of the collapse and revival phenomenon in the strong coupling limit of cavity quantum electrodynamics.