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arXiv:quant-ph/0006117 · Physical Review Letters

Universality of Decoherence

Daniel Braun, Fritz Haake, Walter T. Strunz

Published Apr 2, 2001• 146 citations
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Abstract

We consider environment induced decoherence of quantum superpositions to mixtures in the limit in which that process is much faster than any competing one generated by the Hamiltonian H(sys) of the isolated system. While the golden rule then does not apply we can discard H(sys). By allowing for couplings to different reservoirs, we reveal decoherence as a universal short-time phenomenon independent of the character of the system as well as the bath and of the basis the superimposed states are taken from. We discuss consequences for the classical behavior of the macroworld and quantum measurement: For decoherence of superpositions of macroscopically distinct states H(sys) is always negligible.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.86.2913

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We consider environment induced decoherence of quantum superpositions to mixtures in the limit in which that process is much faster than any competing one generated by the Hamiltonian H(sys) of the isolated system. While the golden rule then does not apply we can discard H(sys). By allowing for couplings to different reservoirs, we reveal decoherence as a universal short-time phenomenon independent of the character of the system as well as the bath and of the basis the superimposed states are taken from. We discuss consequences for the classical behavior of the macroworld and quantum measurement: For decoherence of superpositions of macroscopically distinct states H(sys) is always negligible.
We consider environment induced decoherence of quantum superpositions to mixtures in the limit in which that process is much faster than any competing one generated by the Hamiltonian Hsys{H}_{\mathrm{sys}}Hsys​ of the isolated system. This interaction-dominated decoherence limit is of importance for the emergence of classical behavior in the macroscopic domain, since it will always be the relevant regime for large enough separations between the superposed wave packets. The usual golden-rule treatment then does not apply, but we can employ a short-time expansion for the free motion while keeping the interaction Hint{H}_{\mathrm{int}}Hint​ in full. We thus reveal decoherence as a universal short-time phenomenon largely independent of the character of the system as well as the bath and of the basis the superimposed states are taken from. Simple analytical expressions for the decoherence time scales are obtained in the limit in which decoherence is even faster than any time scale emerging from the reservoir Hamiltonian Hres.{H}_{\mathrm{res}}.Hres​.
We consider environment induced decoherence of quantum superpositions to mixtures in the limit in which that process is much faster than any competing one generated by the Hamiltonian HsysH_{\rm sys}Hsys​ of the isolated system. This interaction dominated decoherence limit has previously not found much attention even though it is of importance for the emergence of classical behavior in the macroworld, since it will always be the relevant regime for large enough separations between superposed wave packets. The usual golden-rule treatment then does not apply but we can employ a short-time expansion for the free motion while keeping the interaction HintH_{\rm int}Hint​ in full. We thus reveal decoherence as a universal short-time phenomenon largely independent of the character of the system as well as the bath. Simple analytical expressions for the decoherence time scales are obtained in the limit in which decoherence is even faster than any timescale emerging from the reservoir Hamiltonian HresH_{\rm res}Hres​.
We consider environment induced decoherence of quantum superpositions to mixtures in the limit in which that process is much faster than any competing one generated by the Hamiltonian HsysH_{\rm sys}Hsys​ of the isolated system. This interaction dominated decoherence limit has previously not found much attention even though it is of importance for the emergence of classical behavior in the macroworld, since it will always be the relevant regime for large enough separations between superposed wave packets. The usual golden-rule treatment then does not apply but we can employ a short-time expansion for the free motion while keeping the interaction HintH_{\rm int}Hint​ in full. We thus reveal decoherence as a universal short-time phenomenon largely independent of the character of the system as well as the bath. Simple analytical expressions for the decoherence time scales are obtained in the limit in which decoherence is even faster than any timescale emerging from the reservoir Hamiltonian HresH_{\rm res}Hres​.
Environment induced decoherence entails the absence of quantum interference phenomena from the macroscopic world. The loss of coherence between superposed wave packets is a dynamical process the speed of which depends on the packet separation: The farther the packets are apart, the faster they decohere. The precise temporal course depends on the relative size of the time scales of decoherence and other processes taking place in the open system and its environment. We use the exactly solvable model of a harmonic oscillator coupled to a bath of harmonic oscillators to illustrate various decoherence scenarios: These range from exponential golden-rule decay for microscopic superpositions, system-specific decay for larger separations in a crossover regime, and finally the universal interaction-dominated decoherence for ever more macroscopic superpositions investigated in great generality in the accompanying Paper I [W. T. Strunz, F. Haake, and D. Braun, Phys. Rev. A 67,67,67, 022101022101022101 (2003)].
We study a class of quantum measurement models. A microscopic object is entangled with a macroscopic pointer such that a distinct pointer position is tied to each eigenvalue of the measured object observable. Those different pointer positions mutually decohere under the influence of an environment. Overcoming limitations of previous approaches we (i) cope with initial correlations between pointer and environment by considering them initially in a metastable local thermal equilibrium, (ii) allow for object–pointer entanglement and environment-induced decoherence of distinct pointer readouts to proceed simultaneously, such that mixtures of macroscopically distinct object–pointer product states arise without intervening macroscopic superpositions, and (iii) go beyond the Markovian treatment of decoherence.
Introduction As discussed in Chapter 1, to understand the general evolution, conditioned and unconditioned, of a quantum system, it is necessary to consider coupling it to a second quantum system. In the case in which the second system is much larger than the first, it is often referred to as a bath, reservoir or environment , and the first system is called an open system . The study of open quantum systems is important to quantum measurement for two reasons. First, all real systems are open to some extent, and the larger a system is, the more important its coupling to its environment will be. For a macroscopic system, such coupling leads to very rapid decoherence . Roughly, this term means the irreversible loss of quantum coherence, that is the conversion of a quantum superposition into a classical mixture. This process is central to understanding the emergence of classical behaviour and ameliorating, if not solving, the so-called quantum measurement problem . The second reason why open quantum systems are important is in the context of generalized quantum measurement theory as introduced in Chapter 1. Recall from there that, by coupling a quantum system to an ‘apparatus’ (a second quantum system) and then measuring the apparatus, a generalized measurement on the system is realized. For an open quantum system, the coupling to the environment is typically continuous (present at all times).