Eightfold way to dark states in SU(3) cold gases with two-body losses

We study the quantum dynamics of a one-dimensional SU(3)-symmetric system of cold atoms in the presence of two-body losses. We exploit the representation theory of SU(3), the so-called eightfold way, as a scheme to organize the dark states of the dissipative dynamics in terms of generalized Dicke states and show how they are dynamically approached, both in the weakly and strongly interacting and dissipative regimes. Our results are relevant for a wide class of alkaline-earth(-like) gas experiments, paving the way to the dissipative preparation and exploitation of generalized Dicke states.