Introduction to Decoherence Theory

Maria Carolina Nemes

J. J. Halliwell

This is an informal introduction to the ideas of decoherence and emergent classicality, including a simple account of the decoherent histories approach to quantum theory. It is aimed at undergraduates with a basic appreciation of quantum theory. The emphasis is on simple physical ideas and pictures.

Round Table, Hervé Zwirn C

H. D. Zeh

Introduction to the theory of decoherence. Contents: 1. The phenomenon of decoherence: superpositions, superselection rules, decoherence by "measurements". 2. Observables as a derivable concept. 3. The measurement problem. 4. Density matrix, coarse graining, and "events". 5. Conclusions.

David W. Snoke

This chapter gives a quantitative introduction to decoherence theory, including density matrix formalism in the context of quantum field theory, and a survey of the quantum trajectories method. Finally, the mathematical structure for a new proposal for spontaneous collapse, introduced nonmathematically in Chapter 6, is given.