316 research outputs found
Master-equations for the study of decoherence
Different structures of master-equation used for the description of
decoherence of a microsystem interacting through collisions with a surrounding
environment are considered and compared. These results are connected to the
general expression of the generator of a quantum dynamical semigroup in
presence of translation invariance recently found by Holevo.Comment: 10 pages, latex, no figures, to appear in Int. J. Theor. Phy
Quantum dissipative systems from theory of continuous measurements
We apply the restricted-path-integral (RPI) theory of non-minimally
disturbing continuous measurements for correct description of frictional
Brownian motion. The resulting master equation is automatically of the Lindblad
form, so that the difficulties typical of other approaches do not exist. In the
special case of harmonic oscillator the known familiar master equation
describing its frictionally driven Brownian motion is obtained. A thermal
reservoir as a measuring environment is considered.Comment: 10 pages in LATE
Quality of a Which-Way Detector
We introduce a measure Q of the "quality" of a quantum which-way detector,
which characterizes its intrinsic ability to extract which-way information in
an asymmetric two-way interferometer. The "quality" Q allows one to separate
the contribution to the distinguishability of the ways arising from the quantum
properties of the detector from the contribution stemming from a-priori
which-way knowledge available to the experimenter, which can be quantified by a
predictability parameter P. We provide an inequality relating these two sources
of which-way information to the value of the fringe visibility displayed by the
interferometer. We show that this inequality is an expression of duality,
allowing one to trace the loss of coherence to the two reservoirs of which-way
information represented by Q and P. Finally, we illustrate the formalism with
the use of a quantum logic gate: the Symmetric Quanton-Detecton System (SQDS).
The SQDS can be regarded as two qubits trying to acquire which way information
about each other. The SQDS will provide an illustrating example of the
reciprocal effects induced by duality between system and which-way detector.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Decoherence in a Talbot Lau interferometer: the influence of molecular scattering
We study the interference of C70 fullerenes in a Talbot-Lau interferometer
with a large separation between the diffraction gratings. This permits the
observation of recurrences of the interference contrast both as a function of
the de Broglie wavelength and in dependence of the interaction with background
gases. We observe an exponential decrease of the fringe visibility with
increasing background pressure and find good quantitative agreement with the
predictions of decoherence theory. From this we extrapolate the limits of
matter wave interferometry and conclude that the influence of collisional
decoherence may be well under control in future experiments with proteins and
even larger objects.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
On the Asymptotic Dynamics of a Quantum System Composed by Heavy and Light Particles
We consider a non relativistic quantum system consisting of heavy and
light particles in dimension three, where each heavy particle interacts with
the light ones via a two-body potential . No interaction is assumed
among particles of the same kind. Choosing an initial state in a product form
and assuming sufficiently small we characterize the asymptotic
dynamics of the system in the limit of small mass ratio, with an explicit
control of the error. In the case K=1 the result is extended to arbitrary
. The proof relies on a perturbative analysis and exploits a
generalized version of the standard dispersive estimates for the
Schr\"{o}dinger group. Exploiting the asymptotic formula, it is also outlined
an application to the problem of the decoherence effect produced on a heavy
particle by the interaction with the light ones.Comment: 38 page
Signatures of non-locality in the first-order coherence of the scattered light
The spatial coherence of an atomic wavepacket can be detected in the
scattered photons, even when the center-of-mass motion is in the quantum
coherent superposition of two distant, non-overlapping wave packets. Spatial
coherence manifests itself in the power spectrum of the emitted photons, whose
spectral components can exhibit interference fringes as a function of the
emission angle. The contrast and the phase of this interference pattern provide
information about the quantum state of the center of mass of the scattering
atom.Comment: 5 pages, one figure, submitted to Laser Physics, special issue in
memory of Herbert Walthe
Two Derivations of the Master Equation of Quantum Brownian Motion
Central to many discussion of decoherence is a master equation for the
reduced density matrix of a massive particle experiencing scattering from its
surrounding environment, such as that of Joos and Zeh. Such master equations
enjoy a close relationship with spontaneous localization models, like the GRW
model. This aim of this paper is to present two derivations of the master
equation. The first derivation is a pedagogical model designed to illustrate
the origins of the master equation as simply as possible, focusing on physical
principles and without the complications of S-matrix theory. This derivation
may serve as a useful tutorial example for students attempting to learn this
subject area. The second is the opposite: a very general derivation using
non-relativistic many body field theory. It reduces to the equation of the type
given by Joos and Zeh in the one-particle sector, but correcting certain
numerical factors which have recently become significant in connection with
experimental tests of decoherence. This master equation also emphasizes the
role of local number density as the ``preferred basis'' for decoherence in this
model.Comment: 19 pages, RevTe
Atom Lasers, Coherent States, and Coherence:II. Maximally Robust Ensembles of Pure States
As discussed in Wiseman and Vaccaro [quant-ph/9906125], the stationary state
of an optical or atom laser far above threshold is a mixture of coherent field
states with random phase, or, equivalently, a Poissonian mixture of number
states. We are interested in which, if either, of these descriptions of
, is more natural. In the preceding paper we concentrated upon
whether descriptions such as these are physically realizable (PR). In this
paper we investigate another relevant aspect of these ensembles, their
robustness. A robust ensemble is one for which the pure states that comprise it
survive relatively unchanged for a long time under the system evolution. We
determine numerically the most robust ensembles as a function of the parameters
in the laser model: the self-energy of the bosons in the laser mode, and
the excess phase noise . We find that these most robust ensembles are PR
ensembles, or similar to PR ensembles, for all values of these parameters. In
the ideal laser limit (), the most robust states are coherent
states. As the phase noise or phase dispersion is increased, the
most robust states become increasingly amplitude-squeezed. We find scaling laws
for these states. As the phase diffusion or dispersion becomes so large that
the laser output is no longer quantum coherent, the most robust states become
so squeezed that they cease to have a well-defined coherent amplitude. That is,
the quantum coherence of the laser output is manifest in the most robust PR
states having a well-defined coherent amplitude. This lends support to the idea
that robust PR ensembles are the most natural description of the state of the
laser mode. It also has interesting implications for atom lasers in particular,
for which phase dispersion due to self-interactions is expected to be large.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures included. To be published in Phys. Rev. A, as
Part II of a two-part paper. The original version of quant-ph/9906125 is
shortly to be replaced by a new version which is Part I of the two-part
paper. This paper (Part II) also contains some material from the original
version of quant-ph/990612
Diffusive limit for a quantum linear Boltzmann dynamics
In this article, I study the diffusive behavior for a quantum test particle
interacting with a dilute background gas. The model I begin with is a reduced
picture for the test particle dynamics given by a quantum linear Boltzmann
equation in which the gas particle scattering is assumed to occur through a
hard-sphere interaction. The state of the particle is represented by a density
matrix that evolves according to a translation-covariant Lindblad equation. The
main result is a proof that the particle's position distribution converges to a
Gaussian under diffusive rescaling.Comment: 51 pages. I have restructured Sections 2-4 from the previous version
and corrected an error in the proof of Proposition 7.
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