Model Order Reduction for Open Quantum Systems Based on Measurement-Adapted Time-Coarse Graining

Model order reduction encompasses mathematical techniques aimed at reducing the complexity of mathematical models in simulations while retaining the essential characteristics and behaviors of the original model. This is particularly useful in the context of large-scale dynamical systems, which can be computationally expensive to analyze and simulate. Here, we present a model order reduction technique to reduce the time complexity of open quantum systems, grounded in the principle of measurement-adapted coarse graining. This method, governed by a coarse-graining timescale τ and the spectral band center ω 0 of the measurement channel, organizes corrections to the lowest-order model which aligns with the rotating-wave approximation Hamiltonian in certain limits and rigorously justifies the resulting effective quantum master equation (EQME). The focus on calculating to a high degree of accuracy what can only be resolved by the measurement introduces a principled regularization procedure to address singularities and generates low-stiffness models suitable for efficient long-time integration. The closed-form EQME parameters greatly enhance interpretability, while the predicted EQME structure provides a foundation for deriving stochastic master equations under continuous measurement and for constructing efficient gray-box models for system identification and control. As a demonstration, we derive the fourth-order EQME for a challenging problem related to the dynamics of a superconducting qubit under high-power dispersive readout in the presence of a continuum of dissipative waveguide modes. This derivation shows that the lowest-order terms align with previous results, while higher-order corrections suggest new phenomena.