Non-Markovian entanglement evolution of two uncoupled qubits

Two noninteracting qubits, initially prepared in an entangled state, are coupled to their own independent environments and evolve under their influence. The reduced non-Markovian dynamics of two qubits is exact for arbitrary model parameters. Necessary and sufficient conditions for nonvanishing entanglement are formulated for both zero and nonzero temperatures and arbitrary time. It is shown that (i) entanglement dynamics can effectively be controlled by a finite quantum system coupled to one of the qubits and (ii) dynamical symmetry of the controlling quantum system can influence significantly entanglement of the qubits and results in its nonmonotonic decay.