Related papers: The true quantum face of the "exponential" decay l…
Consequences of the deviation from the linear on time quantum transition probabilities leading to the nonexponential decay law and to the so-called Zeno effect are analysed. Main features of the quantum Zeno and quantum anti-Zeno effects…
The decay of an unstable system is usually described by an exponential law. Quantum mechanics predicts strong deviations of the survival probability from the exponential: indeed, the decay is initially quadratic, while at very large times…
The temporal behavior of quantum mechanical systems is reviewed. We study the so-called quantum Zeno effect, that arises from the quadratic short-time behavior, and the analytic properties of the ``survival" amplitude. It is shown that the…
We modify the theory of the Quantum Zeno Effect to make it consistent with the postulates of quantum mechanics. This modification allows one, throughout a sequence of observations of an excited system, to address the nature of the…
We show that a short-time regime, in which a deviation from the exponential decay law occurs, exists also in the framework of a superrenormalizable relativistic quantum field theory. This, in turn, implies the possibility of a quantum Zeno…
An unstable quantum state generally decays following an exponential law, as environmental decoherence is expected to prevent the decay products from recombining to reconstruct the initial state. Here we show the existence of deviations from…
The quantum-mechanical theory of the decay of unstable states is revisited. We show that the decay is non-exponential both in the short-time and long-time limits using a more physical definition of the decay rate than the one usually used.…
Recent studies suggest that both the quantum Zeno (increase of the natural lifetime of an unstable quantum state by repeated measurements) and anti-Zeno (decrease of the natural lifetime) effects can be made manifest in the same system by…
The radial equation of a simple potential model has long been known to yield an exponential decay law in lowest order (Breit-Wigner) approximation. We demonstrate that if the calculation is extended to fourth order the decay law exhibits…
In a renormalizable theory the survival probability of an unstable quantum state features divergences as a consequence of the rapid growth of the density of states with energy. Introducing a high energy cutoff $\Lambda$, the transient…
A study is made of the behavior of unstable states in simple models which nevertheless are realistic representations of situations occurring in nature. It is demonstrated that a non-exponential decay pattern will ultimately dominate decay…
The quantum Zeno effect -- suppression of decay by frequent measurements -- was believed to occur only when the response of the detector is so quick that the initial tiny deviation from the exponential decay law is detectable. However, we…
The exponential decay law is well established since its first derivation in 1928, however it is not exact but only an approximate description. In recent years some experimental and theoretical indications for non-exponential decay have been…
We study the decay of a prepared state into non-flat continuum. We find that the survival probability $P(t)$ might exhibit either stretched-exponential or power-law decay, depending on non-universal features of the model. Still there is a…
We study the decay process of an unstable quantum system, especially the deviation from the exponential decay law. We show that the exponential period no longer exists in the case of the s-wave decay with small $Q$ value, where the $Q$…
While exponential decay is ubiquitous in Nature, deviations at both short and long times are dictated by quantum mechanics. Non-exponential decay is known to arise due to the possibility of reconstructing the initial state from the decaying…
We examine an analytical expression for the survival probability for the time evolution of quantum decay to discuss a regime where quantum decay is nonexponential at all times. We find that the interference between the exponential and…
Deviations of the decay law from exponents are discussing for a long time, however, experimental proofs of such deviations are absent. Here in the general form is shown that the conclusions about non-exponential contributions are due to the…
The temporal evolution of an unstable quantum mechanical system undergoing repeated measurements is investigated. In general, by changing the time interval between successive measurements, the decay can be accelerated (inverse quantum Zeno…
The most important law of radioactivity is that of the exponential decay. In the realm of quantum mechanics, however, this decay law is neither rigorous nor fundamental. The deviations from the exponential decay have been observed…