Measuring Decoherence Due to Quantum Vacuum Fluctuations
Quantum Physics
2025-07-10 v2 Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Materials Science
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Theory
Abstract
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. We compute the leading order decoherence effect for such a scenario and propose an experimental setup for its detection. Such a measurement might provide further insights into the nature of vacuum fluctuations and a novel precision test for the decoherence theory.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2501.17928,
title = {Measuring Decoherence Due to Quantum Vacuum Fluctuations},
author = {Anirudh Gundhi and Hendrik Ulbricht},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.17928},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters; Presentation improved; Details of mathematical derivation added in the End Matter