Action scales for quantum decoherence and their relation to structures in phase space
arXiv:quant-ph/0309030 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.69.052111
Abstract
A characteristic action is defined whose magnitude determines some properties of the expectation value of a general quantum displacement operator. These properties are related to the capability of a given environmental `monitoring' system to induce decoherence in quantum systems coupled to it. We show that the scale for effective decoherence is given by . We relate this characteristic action with a complementary quantity, , and analyse their connection with the main features of the pattern of structures developed by the environmental state in different phase space representations. The relevance of the -action scale is illustrated using both a model quantum system solved numerically and a set of model quantum systems for which analytical expressions for the time-averaged expectation value of the displacement operator are obtained explicitly.
12 pages, 3 figures
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