Classical and Quantum Part of the Environment for Quantum Langevin Equations

Abstract: Among quantum Langevin equations describing the unitary time evolution of a quantum system in contact with a quantum bath, we completely characterize those equations which are actually driven by classical noises. The characterization is purely algebraic, in terms of the coefficients of the equation. In a second part, we consider general quantum Langevin equations and we prove that they can always be split into a maximal part driven by classical noises and a purely quantum one.