Environment-Governed Dynamics in Driven Quantum Systems

We show that the dynamics of a driven quantum system weakly coupled to the environment can exhibit two distinct regimes. While the relaxation basis is usually determined by the system + drive Hamiltonian (system-governed dynamics), we find that under certain conditions it is determined by specific features of the environment, such as, the form of the coupling operator (environment-governed dynamics). We provide an effective coupling parameter describing the transition between the two regimes and discuss how to observe the transition in a superconducting charge pump.