  We propose a protocol to simulate the evolution of a non-Markovian open
quantum system by considering a collisional process with a many-body system,
which plays the role of an environment. As a result of our protocol the
environment spatial correlations are mapped into the time correlations of a
noise that drives the dynamics of the open system. Considering the weak
coupling limit the open system can also be considered as a probe of the
environment properties. In this regard, when preparing the environment in its
ground state, a measurement of the dynamics of the open system allows to
determine the length of the environment spatial correlations and therefore its
critical properties. To illustrate our proposal we simulate the full system
dynamics with matrix-product-states and compare this with the reduced dynamics
obtained with an approximated variational master equation.
