Related papers: Irreversibility and Dephasing from Vacuum Fluctuat…
Vacuum fluctuations are a source of irreversibility and decoherence. We investigate the persistent current and its fluctuations in a ring with an in-line quantum dot with an Aharonov-Bohm flux through the hole of the ring. The Coulomb…
It is often argued that a small non-degenerate quantum system coupled to a bath has a fixed energy in its ground state since a fluctuation in energy would require an energy supply from the bath. We consider a simple model of a harmonic…
The ground state of a phase-coherent mesoscopic system is sensitive to its environment. We investigate the persistent current of a ring with a quantum dot which is capacitively coupled to an external circuit with a dissipative impedance. At…
We investigate the persistent current of a ring with an in-line quantum dot capacitively coupled to an external circuit. Of special interest is the magnitude of the persistent current as a function of the external impedance in the zero…
We consider the ground state of simple quantum systems coupled to an environment. In general the system is entangled with its environment. As a consequence, even at zero temperature, the energy of the system is not sharp: a projective…
We consider a quantum harmonic oscillator coupled with a graviton bath and discuss the loss of coherence in the matter sector due to the matter-graviton vertex interaction. Working in the quantum-field-theory framework, we obtain a master…
We theoretically investigate a quantum dot coupled to fermionic (electronic) leads and show how zero-point quantum fluctuations stemming from bosonic environments permit the rectification of the current. The bosonic baths are either…
We consider the interaction of a quantum system (spin-1/2) with a macroscopic quantum apparatus (harmonic oscillator) which in turn is coupled to a bath of harmonic oscillators. Exact solutions of the Markovian Master equation show that the…
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle results in one of the strangest quantum behaviors: an oscillator can never truly be at rest. Even in its lowest energy state, at a temperature of absolute zero, its position and momentum are still subject…
The interaction of a particle with vacuum fluctuations--which theoretically exist even in the complete absence of matter--can lead to observable irreversible decoherence if it were possible to switch on and off the particle charge suddenly.…
The interplay between an open quantum system and its environment can lead to both coherent and incoherent behaviour. We explore the extent to which strong coupling to a single bosonic mode can alter the coherence properties of a two-level…
Real quantum systems couple to their environment and lose their intrinsic quantum nature through the process known as decoherence. Here we present a method for minimizing decoherence by making it energetically unfavorable. We present a…
The interference pattern of coherent electrons is effected by coupling to the quantized electromagnetic field. The amplitudes of the interference maxima are changed by a factor which depends upon a double line integral of the photon…
We study spontaneous quantum coherence in an out of equilibrium system, coupled to multiple baths describing pumping and decay. For a range of parameters describing coupling to, and occupation of the baths, a stable steady-state condensed…
Effective descriptions accounting for the evolution of quantum systems that are acted on by a bath are desirable. As the number of bath degrees of freedom increases and full quantum simulations turn out computationally prohibitive, simpler…
We study the transition probability and coherence of a two-site system, interacting with an oscillator. Both properties depend on the initial preparation. The oscillator is prepared in a thermal state and, even though it cannot be…
We discuss recent experimental evidence of decoherence in a laboratory mesoscopic system in a cavity, from which we draw analogies with the decoherence that we argue is induced by microscopic quantum-gravity fluctuations in the space-time…
I present the exact solution of a toy model for gravitationally induced decoherence. The toy model has Hamiltonian resembling optomechanical systems. It is an oscillator system coupled through its energy to an oscillator heat bath. I find…
We investigate the persistent current in a hybrid Aharonov-Bohm ring - quantum dot system coupled to a reservoir which provides spin fluctuations. It is shown that the spin exchange interaction between the quantum dot and the reservoir…
We identify sufficient conditions on the structure of the interaction Hamiltonian between a two-level quantum system and a thermal bath which, without any external drive or coherent measurement, guarantee the generation of steady-state…