Related papers: Predecoherence: before Decoherence and Collapse
Decoherence of a quantum system (which then starts to display classical features) results from the interaction of the system with the environment, and is well described in the framework of the theory of continuous quantum measurements…
Macroscopic behavior such as the lack of interference patterns has been attributed to "decoherence", a word with several possible definitions such as (1) the loss of off-diagonal density matrix elements, (2) the flow of information to the…
In this contribution I give a brief introduction to the essential concepts and mechanisms of decoherence by the environment. The emphasis will be not so much on technical details but rather on conceptual issues and the impact on the…
We study the decoherence induced by the environment over a composite quantum system, comprising two coupled subsystems A and B, which may be a harmonic or an upside-down oscillators. We analyze the case in which the B-subsystem is in direct…
The performance of modern quantum devices in communication, metrology or microscopy relies on the quantum-classical interaction which is generally described by the theory of decoherence. Despite the high relevance for long coherence times…
We analyse a decoherence effect, caused by the gravitational interaction between a massive body and the electromagnetic field. Assuming a quantum version of the light bending interaction, we show that it leads to decoherence of the mass if…
We study decoherence of the external degree of freedom of a tracer particle moving in a one dimensional dilute Boltzmann gas. We find that phase averaging is the dominant decoherence effect, rather than information exchange between tracer…
A direct classical analog of quantum decoherence is introduced. Similarities and differences between decoherence dynamics examined quantum mechanically and classically are exposed via a second-order perturbative treatment and via a strong…
This paper proposes an experiment designed to distinguish between competing interpretations of quantum mechanics: those that involve wave function collapse and those that assume purely unitary evolution. The experiment tests whether an…
The motion of a charged particle over a conducting plate is damped by Ohmic resistance to image currents. This interaction between the particle and the plate must also produce decoherence, which can be detected by examining interference…
We identify and describe unique early time behavior of a quantum system initially in a superposition, interacting with its environment. This behavior -- the copycat process -- occurs after the system begins to decohere, but before complete…
We study the process whereby quantum cosmological perturbations become classical within inflationary cosmology. By setting up a master-equation formulation we show how quantum coherence for super-Hubble modes can be destroyed by their…
A wide-ranging theory of decoherence is derived from the quantum theory of irreversible processes, with specific results having for their main limitation the assumption of an exact pointer basis.
The neutrino oscillation patterns can be modified by neutrino interactions with external environments including electromagnetic fields that can influence on neutrinos in the case neutrinos have nonzero electromagnetic properties [1]. The…
We discuss a fundamental effect of the interaction-induced decoherence of the electron wave function in disordered metals. In the first part of the paper we consider a simple model of a quantum particle interacting with a bath of harmonic…
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…
The conceptual and dynamical aspects of decoherence are analyzed, while their consequences are discussed for several fundamental applications. This mechanism, which is based on a universal Schr\"odinger equation, is furthermore compared…
We compare two different models of transport of light in a disordered system with a spherical Gaussian distribution of scatterers. A coupled dipole model, keeping into account all interference effects, is compared to an incoherent model,…
Decoherence due to scattering from background gas particles is observed for the first time in a Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer, and compared with decoherence due to scattering photons. A single theory is shown to describe decoherence due…
Two of the most common interpretations of quantum measurement disagree about the fate of quantum amplitudes after measurement, yet this disagreement has not previously led to experimentally distinguishable predictions. In the standard…