Entanglement-induced Decoherence and Energy Eigenstates
arXiv:0712.0059 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.77.012108
Abstract
Using recent results in the field of quantum chaos we derive explicit expressions for the time scale of decoherence induced by the system-environment entanglement. For a generic system-environment interaction and for a generic quantum chaotic system as environment, conditions are derived for energy eigenstates to be preferred states in the weak coupling regime. A simple model is introduced to numerically confirm our predictions. The results presented here may also help understanding the dynamics of quantum entanglement generation in chaotic quantum systems.
5 pages and 3 figures