Quantum-Like Models of Cognition and Decision Making: Open-Systems and Gorini--Kossakowski--Sudarshan--Lindblad Dynamics

In a new paper on arXiv, researchers Masanari Asano and Andrei Khrennikov extend quantum-like models of cognition by applying the Gorini-Kossakowski-Sudarshan-Lindblad (GKSL) master equation to human decision-making. Traditionally, quantum cognition has used static vector states and simple interference effects. The authors argue that real mental processes are dissipative and open, continuously influenced by an 'informational environment' of memories, social cues, and internal biases. By modeling the mind as an open quantum system, they capture how mental states evolve through decoherence and non-unitary dynamics, moving beyond simple wave-like interference.

The paper introduces a key innovation: 'cognitive beats.' These are slow-scale modulations of conviction that emerge when two competing mental 'flows' oscillate at nearly equal frequencies. Unlike damped oscillations from simple interference, beats arise from structural tension between different Liouvillian channels in the GKSL equation. This beat envelope mathematically describes the timing of peak readiness and hesitation, providing a spectral diagnostic for the depth of cognitive agency. The framework also explains how non-Nash equilibria—like cooperation in the Prisoner's Dilemma—can become stable when the Hamiltonian does not commute with decision projections, a signature of 'quantum escape' from classical rationality.