Coarse graining and decoherence in quantum field theory

Abstract

We consider a $\lambda {\varphi }^4$ theory in Minkowski spacetime. We compute a "coarse grained effective action" by integrating out the field modes with wavelength shorter than a critical value. From this effective action we obtain the evolution equation for the reduced density matrix (master equation). We compute the diffusion coefficients of this equation and analyze the decoherence induced on the long- wavelength modes. We generalize the results to the case of a conformally coupled scalar field in DeSitter spacetime. We show that the decoherence is effective as long as the critical wavelength is taken to be not shorter than the Hubble radius.

21 pages (RevTeX) and 5 encapsulated postscript figures

Cited by in corpus (74)

• Momentum-space entanglement and renormalization in quantum field theory
• Stochastic Gravity: Theory and Applications
• Stochastic Gravity: Theory and Applications
• Decoherence during Inflation: the generation of classical inhomogeneities
• Classical Fields Near Thermal Equilibrium
• On the Decoherence of Primordial Fluctuations During Inflation
• Decoherence and Initial Correlations in Quantum Brownian Motion
• Feynman Diagrams for Stochastic Inflation and Quantum Field Theory in de Sitter Space
• Coarse-Grained Effective Action and Renormalization Group Theory in Semiclassical Gravity and Cosmology
• Stochastic Gravity: A Primer with Applications
• A New Theory of Stochastic Inflation
• Open quantum systems and Schwinger-Keldysh holograms
• Primordial fluctuations from nonlinear couplings
• Forming Disoriented Chiral Condensates through Fluctuations
• Decoherence induced CPT violation and entangled neutral mesons
• Decoherence and thermalization of a pure quantum state in quantum field theory
• Nonequilibrium inflaton dynamics and reheating. II. Fermion production, noise, and stochasticity
• Coarse Grained Quantum Dynamics
• Decoherence from Isocurvature Perturbations in Inflation
• Uniformly Accelerated Charge in a Quantum Field: From Radiation Reaction to Unruh Effect
• An effective stochastic semiclassical theory for the gravitational field
• Nonunitary geometric phases: a qubit coupled to an environment with random noise
• Open quantum dynamics induced by light scalar fields
• Quintessence From The Decay of a Superheavy Dark Matter
• Decoherence in an Interacting Quantum Field Theory: The Vacuum Case
• Classicality of the order parameter during a phase transition
• Backreaction in Cosmology
• Decoherence in Field Theory: General Couplings and Slow Quenches
• No intrinsic decoherence of inflationary cosmological perturbations
• Enhancement of Critical Slowing Down in Chiral Phase Transition -- Langevin Dynamics Approach --
• Infrared Behavior of Quantum Fields in Inflationary Cosmology -- Issues and Approaches: an overview
• Renormalization group and nonequilibrium action in stochastic field theory
• Dilaton-induced open quantum dynamics
• A new method for directly computing reduced density matrices
• Divergences in open quantum systems
• Classical behaviour after a phase transition
• Exact CTP Renormalization Group Equation for the Coarse Grained Effective Action
• Influence Action and decoherence of hydrodynamic modes
• How particles emerge from decaying classical fields in heavy ion collisions: towards a kinetic description of the Glasma
• From quantum to classical instability in relativistic stars
• On decoherence in quantum gravity
• Emergence of Classicality in Quantum Phase Transitions
• Schwinger-Keldysh path integral for the quantum harmonic oscillator
• Characterizing Entanglement Entropy Produced by Non-Linear Scalar Interactions During Inflation
• Density matrix formalism for interacting quantum fields
• Gravity, Horizons and Open EFTs
• Influence functional in two dimensional dilaton gravity
• Decoherence of domains and defects at phase transitions
• Entanglement of scales as a possible mechanism for decoherence and thermalization in relativistic heavy ion collisions
• The Formation of Classical Defects After a Slow Quantum Phase Transition
• Dynamical Evolution of the Scalar Condensate in Heavy Ion Collisions
• Decoherence Problem in Ekpyrotic Phase
• Closed time path approach to the Casimir energy in real media
• Noise-induced energy excitation by a general environment
• Fluctuations and Phase Transition Dynamics
• HBAR entropy of Infalling Atoms into a GUP-corrected Schwarzschild Black Hole and equivalence principle
• The Effects of Multiplicative Noise in Relativistic Phase Transitions
• Decoherence and Loss of Entanglement in Acoustic Black Holes
• Dynamics of an Acoustic Black Hole as an Open Quantum System
• How Phase Transitions induce classical behaviour
• A Grand Canonical Ensemble Approach to the Thermodynamic Properties of the Nucleon in the Quark-Gluon Coupling Model
• Multiple-Scale Analysis and Renormalization of Quenched Second Order Phase Transitions
• Initial value formulation of a quantum damped harmonic oscillator
• Open system dynamics in interacting quantum field theories
• Time dependent Entanglement Entropy in dissipative conformal theories: TFD approach
• A nonequilibrium renormalization group approach to turbulent reheating
• Quantifying spectral signatures of non-Markovianity beyond the Born-Redfield master equation
• Trapping effects in inflation: blue spectrum at small scales
• Entanglement entropy between virtual and real excitations in quantum electrodynamics
• Quantum Brownian representation for the quantum field modes
• Astro- and Quantum Physical Tests of Screened Scalar Fields
• Decoherence in composite quantum open systems: the effectiveness of unstable degrees of freedom
• Unification of Stochastic and Quantum Thermodynamics in Scalar Field Theory via a Model with Brownian Thermostat
• Intrinsic Entropy of Squeezed Quantum Fields and Nonequilibrium Quantum Dynamics of Cosmological Perturbations