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arXiv:quant-ph/9612037 · Talk given at

Why We Don't Need Quantum Planetary Dynamics: Decoherence and the Correspondence Principle for Chaotic Systems

Wojciech Hubert Zurek, Juan Pablo Paz

Published Dec 12, 1996• 4 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Violation of correspondence principle may occur for very macroscopic byt isolated quantum systems on rather short timescales as illustrated by the case of Hyperion, the chaotically tumbling moon of Saturn, for which quantum and classical predictions are expected to diverge on a timescale of approximately 20 years. Motivated by Hyperion, we review salient features of ``quantum chaos'' and show that decoherence is the essential ingredient of the classical limit, as it enables one to solve the apparent paradox caused by the breakdown of the correspondence principle for classically chaotic systems.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.quant-ph/9612037

Related papers

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Violation of correspondence principle may occur for very macroscopic byt isolated quantum systems on rather short timescales as illustrated by the case of Hyperion, the chaotically tumbling moon of Saturn, for which quantum and classical predictions are expected to diverge on a timescale of approximately 20 years. Motivated by Hyperion, we review salient features of ``quantum chaos'' and show that decoherence is the essential ingredient of the classical limit, as it enables one to solve the apparent paradox caused by the breakdown of the correspondence principle for classically chaotic systems.
The environment – external or internal degrees of freedom coupled to the system – can, in effect, monitor some of its observables. As a result, the eigenstates of these observables decohere and behave like classical states: Continuous destruction of superpositions leads to environment-induced superselection (einselection). Here I investigate it in the context of quantum chaos (i.e., quantum dynamics of systems which are classically chaotic). I show that the evolution of a chaotic macroscopic (but, ultimately, quantum) system is not just difficult to predict (requiring an accuracy exponentially increasing with time) but quickly ceases to be deterministic in principle as a result of the Heisenberg indeterminacy (which limits the resolution available in the initial conditions). This happens after a time t ℏ which is only logarithmic in the Planck constant. A definitely macroscopic (if somewhat outrageous) example is afforded by various components of the solar system which are chaotic, with the Lyapunov timescales ranging from a bit more than a month (Hyperion) to millions of years (planetary system as a whole). On the timescale t ℏ the initial minimum uncertainty wavepackets corresponding to celestial bodies would be smeared over distances of the order of radii of their orbits into “Schrödinger cat – like” states, and the concept of a trajectory would cease to apply. In reality, such paradoxical states are eliminated by decoherence which helps restore quantum-classical correspondence. The price for the recovery of classicality is the loss of predictability: In the classical limit (associated with effective decoherence, and not just with the smallness of ℏ) the rate of increase of the von Neumann entropy of the decohering system is independent of the strength of the coupling to the environment, and equal to the sum of the positive Lyapunov exponents. Algorithmic aspects of entropy production are briefly explored to illustrate the effect of decoherence from the point of view of the observer. We show that “decoherence strikes twice”, introducing unpredictability into the system and extracting quantum coherence from the observers memory, where it enters as a price for the classicality of his records.
This paper is motivated by the suggestion [W. Zurek, Phys. Scri. T, 76, 186 (1998)] that the chaotic tumbling of the satellite Hyperion would become nonclassical within 20years20\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{years}20years, but for the effects of environmental decoherence. The dynamics of quantum and classical probability distributions are compared for a satellite rotating perpendicular to its orbital plane, driven by the gravitational gradient. The model is studied with and without environmental decoherence. Without decoherence, the maximum quantum-classical (QC) differences in its average angular momentum scale as ${\ensuremath{\hbar}}^{2∕3}$ for chaotic states, and as ${\ensuremath{\hbar}}^{2}$ for nonchaotic states, leading to negligible QC differences for a macroscopic object like Hyperion. The quantum probability distributions do not approach their classical limit smoothly, having an extremely fine oscillatory structure superimposed on the smooth classical background. For a macroscopic object, this oscillatory structure is too fine to be resolved by any realistic measurement. Either a small amount of smoothing (due to the finite resolution of the apparatus) or a very small amount of environmental decoherence is sufficient to ensure the classical limit. Under decoherence, the QC differences in the probability distributions scale as ${({\ensuremath{\hbar}}^{2}∕D)}^{1∕6}$, where DDD is the momentum diffusion parameter. We conclude that decoherence is not essential to explain the classical behavior of macroscopic bodies.
The famous Nils Bohr's quantum-classical correspondence principle states that the classical mechanics is a limiting case of the more general quantum mechanics. This implies that ``under certain conditions" quantum laws of motion become equivalent to classical laws. One of the conditions is fairly obvious: the corresponding classical action should be very large as compared with the Planck's constant. But this condition is not sufficient. Suppression of effects of quantum interference ("decoherence") is the phenomenon of primary importance for understanding of the Bohr's principle. Being, in essence, of quite general nature, this problem takes on special significance in the case of non-linear classically chaotic quantum systems. Whereas the rapid decay of phase correlations is an underlying feature of the classical dynamical chaos, the "quantum chaos" by itself is not capable of destroying the quantum phase coherence. Strictly speaking, any initially pure quantum state remains pure during an arbitrary long unitary evolution. Basically, formation of incoherent mixed states (decoherence) results only from the process of preparation of a mixed initial state or interaction with a noisy environment. Just the decoherence brigdes the quantum and classical worlds. Peculiarities of the time behavior of Peres fidelity, state purity, Shanon and von Neumann entropies are analyzed in detail. We demonstrate the ways the decoherence shows up in periodically driven systems that can be associated with Ramsey-type interferomentry experiments with ion traps. Finally, decoherence in ballistic electron quantum transport caused by interaction with a disordered environment is considered.
The quantum dynamics of a classically chaotic model are studied in the approach to the macroscopic limit. The quantum predictions are compared and contrasted with the classical predictions of both Newtonian and Liouville mechanics. The time-domain scaling of the optimal quantum-classical correspondence is analyzed in detail in the case of both classical theories. In both cases the correspondence for observable quantities is shown to break down on a time-scale that increases very slowly (logarithmically) with increasing system size. In the case of quantum-Liouville correspondence such a short time-scale does not imply a breakdown of correspondence since the largest quantum-Liouville differences reached on this time-scale decrease rapidly (as an inverse power) with increasing system size. Therefore the statistical properties of chaotic dynamics are, as expected, well described by quantum theory in the macroscopic limit. In contrast, the largest quantum-Newtonian differences reached on the log time-scale actually increase in proportion to the system size. Since the invariance properties of the Hamiltonian impose functional constraints on the time-varying chaotic coordinates, it is possible to show, moreover, that if the quantum predictions are believed to describe the coordinates of individual chaotic systems, then they also predict macroscopic violations of any kinematic or dynamic constants of the motion. These results for chaotic systems indicate that a valid description of the time-varying properties of individual macroscopic bodies is not available within the standard interpretive framework of quantum theory.
The relation between determinism and predictability is the central issue in the study of 'deterministic chaos'. Much knowledge has been accumulated in the past 10 years about the chaotic dynamics of macroscopic (classical) systems. Our intention is to examine the implications of chaos in the microscopic quantum world – in other words, how to reconcile the correspondence principle with the inherent uncertainties which reflect the wave nature of quantum dynamics. Some rather surprising and counterintuitive results emerge from this effort which bear an intriguing similarity to a phenomenon associated with electric conductivity in disordered solids, namely 'Anderson localisation'. It is very rewarding that these developments do not remain in the lofty realms of abstract theoretical physics. Indeed, recent atomic physics experiments demonstrate clearly that chaos is relevant to the microscopic world. In particular, such experiments emphasise the urgent need to clarify the genuine quantum mechanism which imposes severe limitations on quantum dynamics, and renders it so very different from its classical counterpart.