paper

Experimental decoherence in molecule interferometry

arXiv:2101.08216 · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-88781-0_4

Abstract

Complex molecules are intriguing objects at the interface between quantum and classical phenomena. Compared to the electrons, neutrons, or atoms studied in earlier matter-wave experiments, they feature a much more complicated internal structure, but can still behave as quantum objects in their center-of-mass motion. Molecules may involve a large number of vibrational modes and highly excited rotational states, they can emit thermal photons, electrons, or even atoms, and they exhibit large cross sections for collisional interactions with residual background gases. This makes them ideal candidates for decoherence experiments which we review in this contribution.

11 pages, 6 figures; to appear in: "From Quantum to Classical. Essays in memory of Dieter Zeh", Fundamental Theories of Physics, ed. by Claus Kiefer, Springer 2021

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