© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

Terms Privacy Legal Notice

Physical Review A

Decoherence of quantum kinematical correlations: Elastic scattering of identical particles

M. C. Morais, Maria Carolina Nemes, R. Lichtenthäler, Alinka Lépine-Szily

Published Nov 30, 2012• 0 citations

Abstract

We include the dynamics of the angular straggling process in the angular distributions of Mott scattering of heavy ions. We model the passage of an incoming nucleus through a target as a diffusion process. It is then possible to derive a simple and physically transparent expression for the angular dispersion due to the straggling. The angular dispersion should be folded with the theoretical Mott cross section to see its effect on the amplitude of the Mott oscillations. Our results agree very well with data of ${}^{208}$Pb + ${}^{208}$Pb scattering. We define the ``classical'' limit as the limit when the angular dispersion due to straggling becomes comparable with the Mott oscillation period and get the disappearance of quantum interference occurring at the limit $0.050\sqrt{\ensuremath{\xi}}\frac{{Z}^{4}}{{E}^{3/2}}\ensuremath{\ge}1$, where $\ensuremath{\xi}$ stands for the target thickness, $Z$ is the system's charge, and $E$ is the center-of-mass energy. The experiments on lead are very close to this limit. We show that the kinematical correlations due to the identity of the particles is maintained, as it should be, and the action of the environment is to reduce the fringe visibility.

DOI: 10.1103/physreva.86.052711

Related papers

Quantum angular momentum diffusion of rigid bodies

Birthe Papendell, Benjamin A. Stickler, Klaus Hornberger

We show how to describe the diffusion of the quantized angular momentum vector of an arbitrarily shaped rigid rotor as induced by its collisional interaction with an environment.We present the general form of the Lindblad-type master equation and relate it to the orientational decoherence of an asymmetric nanoparticle in the limit of small anisotropies.The corresponding diffusion coefficients are derived for gas particles scattering off large molecules and for ambient photons scattering off dielectric particles, using the elastic scattering amplitudes.

arXiv:1712.05596•New Journal of Physics•Nov 10, 2017•30 citations

Kinematic Effect of Indistinguishability and Its Application to Open Quantum Systems

Peter William Bryant

In quantum mechanics, useful experiments require multiple measurements performed on the identically prepared physical objects composing experimental ensembles. Experimental systems also suffer from environmental interference, and one should not assume that all objects in the experimental ensemble suffer interference identically from a single, uncontrolled environment. Here we present a framework for treating multiple quantum environments and fluctuations affecting only subsets of the experimental ensemble. We also discuss a kinematic effect of indistinguishability not applicable to closed systems. As an application, we treat inefficient photon scattering as an open system. We also create a toy model for the environmental interference suffered by systems undergoing Rabi oscillations, and we find that this kinematic effect may explain the puzzling Excitation Induced Dephasing generally measured in experiments.

arXiv:1104.1222•Apr 7, 2011•0 citations

Communication: Heavy atom quantum diffraction by scattering from surfaces

Jeremy M. Moix, Eli Pollak

Typically one expects that when a heavy particle collides with a surface, the scattered angular distribution will follow classical mechanics. The heavy mass usually assures that the coherence length of the incident particle in the direction of the propagation of the particle (the parallel direction) will be much shorter than the characteristic lattice length of the surface, thus leading to a classical description. Recent work on molecular interferometry has shown that extreme collimation of the beam creates a perpendicular coherence length which is sufficiently long so as to observe interference of very heavy species passing through a grating. Here we show, using quantum mechanical simulations, that the same effect will lead to quantum diffraction of heavy particles colliding with a surface. The effect is robust with respect to the incident energy, the angle of incidence, and the mass of the particle.

arXiv:1008.2546•The Journal of Chemical Physics•Jan 6, 2011•12 citations

Semiclassical perturbation theory for diffraction in heavy atom surface scattering

Salvador Miret-Artés, Shauli Daon, Eli Pollak

The semiclassical perturbation theory formalism of Hubbard and Miller [J. Chem. Phys. 78, 1801 (1983)] for atom surface scattering is used to explore the possibility of observation of heavy atom diffractive scattering. In the limit of vanishing ℏ the semiclassical theory is shown to reduce to the classical perturbation theory. The quantum diffraction pattern is sensitive to the characteristics of the beam of incoming particles. Necessary conditions for observation of quantum diffraction are derived for the angular width of the incoming beam. An analytic expression for the angular distribution as a function of the angular and momentum variance of the incoming beam is obtained. We show both analytically and through some numerical results that increasing the angular width of the incident beam leads to decoherence of the quantum diffraction peaks and one approaches the classical limit. However, the incoherence of the beam in the parallel direction does not destroy the diffraction pattern. We consider the specific example of Ar atoms scattered from a rigid LiF(100) surface.

The Journal of Chemical Physics•May 28, 2012•7 citations

Visibility fringe reduction due to noise-induced effects: Microscopic approach to interference experiments

Paula I. Villar, Fernando C. Lombardo

Decoherence is the main process behind the quantum to classical transition. It is a purely quantum mechanical effect by which the system loses its ability to exhibit coherent behavior. The recent experimental observation of diffraction and interference patterns for large molecules raises some interesting questions. In this context, we identify possible agents of decoherence to take into account when modeling these experiments, and study their visible (or not) effects on the interference pattern. We thereby present an analysis of matter wave interferometry in the presence of a dynamic quantum environment, and study how much the visibility fringe is reduced and in which timescale the decoherence effects destroy the interference of massive objects. Finally, we apply our results to the experimental data reported on fullerenes and cold neutrons. © World Scientific Publishing Company.

•Dec 1, 2007•3 citations

VISIBILITY FRINGE REDUCTION DUE TO NOISE-INDUCED EFFECTS: MICROSCOPIC APPROACH TO INTERFERENCE EXPERIMENTS

PAULA I. VILLAR, FERNANDO C. LOMBARDO

Decoherence is the main process behind the quantum to classical transition. It is a purely quantum mechanical effect by which the system loses its ability to exhibit coherent behavior. The recent experimental observation of diffraction and interference patterns for large molecules raises some interesting questions. In this context, we identify possible agents of decoherence to take into account when modeling these experiments, and study their visible (or not) effects on the interference pattern. We thereby present an analysis of matter wave interferometry in the presence of a dynamic quantum environment, and study how much the visibility fringe is reduced and in which timescale the decoherence effects destroy the interference of massive objects. Finally, we apply our results to the experimental data reported on fullerenes and cold neutrons.

arXiv:0707.1457•International Journal of Modern Physics B•Oct 30, 2007•3 citations

We include the dynamics of the angular straggling process in the angular distributions of Mott scattering of heavy ions. We model the passage of an incoming nucleus through a target as a diffusion process. It is then possible to derive a simple and physically transparent expression for the angular dispersion due to the straggling. The angular dispersion should be folded with the theoretical Mott cross section to see its effect on the amplitude of the Mott oscillations. Our results agree very well with data of

{}^{208}

Pb +

{}^{208}

Pb scattering. We define the ``classical'' limit as the limit when the angular dispersion due to straggling becomes comparable with the Mott oscillation period and get the disappearance of quantum interference occurring at the limit

0.050\sqrt{\ensuremath{\xi}}\frac{{Z}^{4}}{{E}^{3/2}}\ensuremath{\ge}1

, where

\ensuremath{\xi}

stands for the target thickness,

Z

is the system's charge, and

E

is the center-of-mass energy. The experiments on lead are very close to this limit. We show that the kinematical correlations due to the identity of the particles is maintained, as it should be, and the action of the environment is to reduce the fringe visibility.

We show how to describe the diffusion of the quantized angular momentum vector of an arbitrarily shaped rigid rotor as induced by its collisional interaction with an environment.We present the general form of the Lindblad-type master equation and relate it to the orientational decoherence of an asymmetric nanoparticle in the limit of small anisotropies.The corresponding diffusion coefficients are derived for gas particles scattering off large molecules and for ambient photons scattering off dielectric particles, using the elastic scattering amplitudes.

In quantum mechanics, useful experiments require multiple measurements performed on the identically prepared physical objects composing experimental ensembles. Experimental systems also suffer from environmental interference, and one should not assume that all objects in the experimental ensemble suffer interference identically from a single, uncontrolled environment. Here we present a framework for treating multiple quantum environments and fluctuations affecting only subsets of the experimental ensemble. We also discuss a kinematic effect of indistinguishability not applicable to closed systems. As an application, we treat inefficient photon scattering as an open system. We also create a toy model for the environmental interference suffered by systems undergoing Rabi oscillations, and we find that this kinematic effect may explain the puzzling Excitation Induced Dephasing generally measured in experiments.

Typically one expects that when a heavy particle collides with a surface, the scattered angular distribution will follow classical mechanics. The heavy mass usually assures that the coherence length of the incident particle in the direction of the propagation of the particle (the parallel direction) will be much shorter than the characteristic lattice length of the surface, thus leading to a classical description. Recent work on molecular interferometry has shown that extreme collimation of the beam creates a perpendicular coherence length which is sufficiently long so as to observe interference of very heavy species passing through a grating. Here we show, using quantum mechanical simulations, that the same effect will lead to quantum diffraction of heavy particles colliding with a surface. The effect is robust with respect to the incident energy, the angle of incidence, and the mass of the particle.

The semiclassical perturbation theory formalism of Hubbard and Miller [J. Chem. Phys. 78, 1801 (1983)] for atom surface scattering is used to explore the possibility of observation of heavy atom diffractive scattering. In the limit of vanishing ℏ the semiclassical theory is shown to reduce to the classical perturbation theory. The quantum diffraction pattern is sensitive to the characteristics of the beam of incoming particles. Necessary conditions for observation of quantum diffraction are derived for the angular width of the incoming beam. An analytic expression for the angular distribution as a function of the angular and momentum variance of the incoming beam is obtained. We show both analytically and through some numerical results that increasing the angular width of the incident beam leads to decoherence of the quantum diffraction peaks and one approaches the classical limit. However, the incoherence of the beam in the parallel direction does not destroy the diffraction pattern. We consider the specific example of Ar atoms scattered from a rigid LiF(100) surface.

Decoherence is the main process behind the quantum to classical transition. It is a purely quantum mechanical effect by which the system loses its ability to exhibit coherent behavior. The recent experimental observation of diffraction and interference patterns for large molecules raises some interesting questions. In this context, we identify possible agents of decoherence to take into account when modeling these experiments, and study their visible (or not) effects on the interference pattern. We thereby present an analysis of matter wave interferometry in the presence of a dynamic quantum environment, and study how much the visibility fringe is reduced and in which timescale the decoherence effects destroy the interference of massive objects. Finally, we apply our results to the experimental data reported on fullerenes and cold neutrons. © World Scientific Publishing Company.

Decoherence is the main process behind the quantum to classical transition. It is a purely quantum mechanical effect by which the system loses its ability to exhibit coherent behavior. The recent experimental observation of diffraction and interference patterns for large molecules raises some interesting questions. In this context, we identify possible agents of decoherence to take into account when modeling these experiments, and study their visible (or not) effects on the interference pattern. We thereby present an analysis of matter wave interferometry in the presence of a dynamic quantum environment, and study how much the visibility fringe is reduced and in which timescale the decoherence effects destroy the interference of massive objects. Finally, we apply our results to the experimental data reported on fullerenes and cold neutrons.