Controlling entanglement generation in external quantum fields

Two non-interacting two-level atoms immersed in a common bath can become mutually entangled when evolving with a Markovian, completely positive dynamics. For an environment made of external quantum fields, this phenomenon can be studied in detail: one finds that entanglement production can be controlled by varying the bath temperature and the distance between the atoms. Remarkably, in certain circumstances, the quantum correlations can persist in the asymptotic long-time regime.