Radiation Pressure as a Source of Decoherence
Abstract
We consider the interaction of an harmonic oscillator with the quantum field via radiation pressure. We show that a `Schrodinger cat' state decoheres in a time scale that depends on the degree of `classicality' of the state components, and which may be much shorter than the relaxation time scale associated to the dynamical Casimir effect. We also show that decoherence is a consequence of the entanglement between the quantum states of the oscillator and field two-photon states. With the help of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, we derive a relation between decoherence and damping rates valid for arbitrary values of the temperature of the field. Coherent states are selected by the interaction as pointer states.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.quant-ph/0004057,
title = {Radiation Pressure as a Source of Decoherence},
author = {Paulo A. Maia Neto and Diego A. R. Dalvit},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/0004057},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
14 pages, 3 figures, RevTex file