Related papers: Intrinsic and Fundamental Decoherence: Issues and …
We consider two interacting systems when one is treated classically while the other system remains quantum. Consistent dynamics of this coupling has been shown to exist, and explored in the context of treating space-time classically. Here,…
We analyze the notion of quantum coherence in an interference experiment. We let the phase shifts fluctuate according to a given statistical distribution and introduce a decoherence parameter, defined in terms of a generalized visibility of…
We consider a composite particle, whose internal degrees of freedom are described by quantum mechanics, interacting with the quantum gravitational field in the linear approximation. Dechorence induced by the quantum fluctuations of the…
Inside quantum mechanics the problem of decoherence for an isolated, finite system is linked to a coarse-grained description of its dynamics.
We discuss how a background bath of gravitons can induce decoherence of quantum systems. The mechanism is dephasing, the loss of phase coherence due to quantum geometry fluctuations caused by the gravitons. This effect is illustrated in a…
We have recently argued that if one introduces a relational time in quantum mechanics and quantum gravity, the resulting quantum theory is such that pure states evolve into mixed states. The rate at which states decohere depends on the…
The use of a relational time in quantum mechanics is a framework in which one promotes to quantum operators all variables in a system, and later chooses one of the variables to operate like a ``clock''. Conditional probabilities are…
A small quantum system is studied which is a superposition of states localized in different positions in a static gravitational field. The time evolution of the correlation between different positions is investigated, and it is seen that…
The intersection between quantum mechanics and gravitational physics has been providing challenging puzzles for decades. In this thesis, we study the dynamics of an open quantum system coupled with a bath of gravitons, the quanta of the…
It was previously argued that the phenomenon of quantum gravitational decoherence described by the Wheeler-DeWitt equation is responsible for the emergence of the arrow of time. Here we show that the characteristic spatio-temporal scales of…
Quantum decoherence plays a pivotal role in the dynamical description of the quantum-to-classical transition and is the main impediment to the realization of devices for quantum information processing. This paper gives an overview of the…
Decoherence is widely felt to have something to do with the quantum measurement problem, but getting clear on just what is made difficult by the fact that the "measurement problem", as traditionally presented in foundational and…
Several phenomenological approaches to quantum gravity predict the existence of a minimal measurable length and/or a maximum measurable momentum near the Planck scale. When embedded into the framework of quantum mechanics, such constraints…
Quantum gravity may involve models with stochastic fluctuations of the associated metric field, around some fixed background value. Such stochastic models of gravity may induce decoherence for matter propagating in such fluctuating space…
Decoherence in quantum cosmology is shown to occur naturally in the presence of induced geometric gauge interactions associated with particle production.A new 'gauge '-variant form of the semiclassical Einstein equations is also presented…
The effects of fluctuating boundaries on a superposition state of a quantum particle in a box is studied. We consider a model in one space dimension in which the initial state is a coherent superposition of two energy eigenstates. The…
Among the many worthwhile quantum experiments taking advantage of long baselines in space, this white paper points to the far-reaching significance of gravitational decoherence experiments. These experiments can provide clues as to whether…
We examine from first principles one of the basic assumptions of modern quantum theories of structure formation in the early universe, i.e., the conditions upon which fluctuations of a quantum field may transmute into classical stochastic…
It is well known that in quantum gravity, the very geometry of space and time is subject to continual fluctuation. The mathematical formulation for this old theory is still lacking. This article formulates this more than forty-year-old…
In quantum gravity there is no notion of absolute time. Like all other quantities in the theory, the notion of time has to be introduced "relationally", by studying the behavior of some physical quantities in terms of others chosen as a…