Dependence of decoherence-assisted classicality on the ways a system is partitioned into subsystems

Abstract

Choosing a specific way of dividing a closed system into parts is a starting point for the decoherence program and for the quantum thermalization program. It is shown that one can always chose such way of partitioning that decoherence-assisted classicality does not emerge and thermalization does not occur. Implications of this result are discussed.

Presented at DICE-2012 workshop under title "Resolution into subsystems, decoherence and thermalization". v2: Title changed, presentation improved, discussion extended, references added. Accepted to Phys. Rev. A

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• Eliminating Ensembles from Equilibrium Statistical Physics: Maxwell's Demon, Szilard's Engine, and Thermodynamics via Entanglement
• Local integrals of motion in the two-site Anderson-Hubbard model
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• Many Body Localization in 2D Systems with Quasi-Random fields in X and Y Directions
• Testing eigenstate decoherence hypothesis in a model of collisional decoherence
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