Repulsive and attractive interactions usually lead to very different physics. Striking exceptions exist in the dynamics of driven–dissipative quantum systems. For the example of a photonic Bose–Hubbard dimer, we establish a one-to-one mapping relating cases of onsite repulsion and attraction. We prove that the mapping is valid for an entire class of Markovian open quantum systems with a time-reversal-invariant Hamiltonian and physically meaningful inverse-sign Hamiltonian. To underline the broad applicability of the mapping, we illustrate the one-to-one correspondence between the nonequilibrium dynamics in a geometrically frustrated spin lattice and those in a non-frustrated partner lattice.

Link: New J. Phys. 19, 115010