  We suggest a quantum simulator that allows to study the role of memory
effects in the dynamics of open quantum systems. Our proposal is based on a
bipartite quantum system consisting, for simplicity, of a harmonic oscillator
and a few-level system; it exploits the formal analogy between dissipation and
quantum measurements. The interaction between the subsystems gives rise to
quantum Zeno dynamics, and the dissipation strength experienced by the harmonic
oscillator can be tuned by changing the parameters of the measurement, i.e.,
the interaction with the few-level system. Extension of the proposal to
anharmonic systems is straightforward.
