Description of resonance decay by Lindblad operators

Using an analytical model potential which contains resonant and bound states, we show that the decay of the resonances can be simulated by Lindblad operators. For that purpose, the unitary time evolution of an initial Gaussian wave packet in the model potential is compared with the non-unitary time evolution, obtained by solving the Lindblad equation, of the same wave packet in a potential which coincides with the model potential in the region of interest but does not contain resonances. In the latter case, dissipative effects are accounted for by Lindblad operators which lead to phenomenological friction and diffusion constants in the equations of motion. We suggest how those constants can be determined in a non-heuristic way, being directly connected to the width of the resonance in the model potential which we calculate using the complex rotation method