Thermalization and long-lived quantum memory in the multi-atomic ensembles

We have studied the role of thermalization in lifetime reduction of quantum memory based on multi-atomic ensembles. Herein, it is shown to be impossible to remove the thermaization-caused decoherence in such systems using the methods of dynamical decoupling. We have analyzed the existing models of the thermalization and have proposed a new understanding of the thermalization as a result of the internal processes which are not described in the unitary quantum dynamics formalism. The possible ways for reducing the negative influence of thermalization on the quantum memory lifetime are also discussed.