Decoherence of Histories: Chaotic Versus Integrable Systems

Abstract

We study the emergence of decoherent histories in isolated systems based on exact numerical integration of the Schrödinger equation for a Heisenberg chain. We reveal that the nature of the system, which we switch from (i) chaotic to (ii) interacting integrable to (iii) non-interacting integrable, strongly impacts decoherence \new{of coarse spin observables}. From a finite size scaling law we infer a strong exponential suppression of coherences for (i), a weak exponential suppression for (ii) and no exponential suppression for (iii) on a relevant short (nonequilibrium) time scale. Moreover, for longer times we find stronger decoherence for (i) but the opposite for (ii), hinting even at a possible power-law decay for (ii) at equilibrium time scales. This behaviour is encoded in the multi-time properties of the quantum histories and it can not be explained by environmentally induced decoherence. Our results suggest that chaoticity plays a crucial role in the emergence of classicality in finite size systems.

14 pages, 22 figures