Decoherence and Initial Correlations in Quantum Brownian Motion
Quantum Physics
2009-10-30 v1
Abstract
We analyze the evolution of a quantum Brownian particle starting from an initial state that contains correlations between this system and its environment. Using a path integral approach, we obtain a master equation for the reduced density matrix of the system finding relatively simple expressions for its time dependent coefficients. We examine the evolution of delocalized initial states (Schr\"odinger's cats) investigating the effectiveness of the decoherence process. Analytic results are obtained for an ohmic environment (Drude's model) at zero temperature.
Cite
@article{arxiv.quant-ph/9612036,
title = {Decoherence and Initial Correlations in Quantum Brownian Motion},
author = {Luciana Dávila Romero and Juan Pablo Paz},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/9612036},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
15 pages, RevTex, 5 figures included. Submitted to Phys. Rev. A