3,745 research outputs found
Decoherence of Histories and Hydrodynamic Equations for a Linear Oscillator Chain
We investigate the decoherence of histories of local densities for linear
oscillators models. It is shown that histories of local number, momentum and
energy density are approximately decoherent, when coarse-grained over
sufficiently large volumes. Decoherence arises directly from the proximity of
these variables to exactly conserved quantities (which are exactly decoherent),
and not from environmentally-induced decoherence. We discuss the approach to
local equilibrium and the subsequent emergence of hydrodynamic equations for
the local densities.Comment: 37 pages, RevTe
Approximate Decoherence of Histories and 't Hooft's Deterministic Quantum Theory
This paper explores the possibility that an exactly decoherent set of
histories may be constructed from an approximately decoherent set by small
distortions of the operators characterizing the histories. In particular, for
the case of histories of positions and momenta, this is achieved by doubling
the set of operators and then finding, amongst this enlarged set, new position
and momentum operators which commute, so decohere exactly, and which are
``close'' to the original operators. The enlarged, exactly decoherent, theory
has the same classical dynamics as the original one, and coincides with the
so-called deterministic quantum theories of the type recently studied by 't
Hooft. These results suggest that the comparison of standard and deterministic
quantum theories may provide an alternative method of characterizing emergent
classicality. A side-product is the surprising result that histories of momenta
in the quantum Brownian motion model (for the free particle in the
high-temperature limit) are exactly decoherent.Comment: 41 pages, plain Te
The exact cosmological solution to the dynamical equations for the Bianchi IX model
Quantum geometrodynamics in extended phase space describes phenomenologically
the integrated system ``a physical object + observation means (a gravitational
vacuum condensate)''. The central place in this version of QGD belongs to the
Schrodinger equation for a wave function of the Universe. An exact solution to
the ``conditionally-classical'' set of equations in extended phase space for
the Bianchi-IX model and the appropriate solution to the Schrodinger equation
are considered. The physical adequacy of the obtained solutions to existing
concepts about possible cosmological scenarios is demonstrated. The
gravitational vacuum condensate is shown to be a cosmological evolution factor.Comment: LaTeX, 14 pages, to be published in Int. J. Mod. Phys.
Representations of Spacetime Alternatives and Their Classical Limits
Different quantum mechanical operators can correspond to the same classical
quantity. Hermitian operators differing only by operator ordering of the
canonical coordinates and momenta at one moment of time are the most familiar
example. Classical spacetime alternatives that extend over time can also be
represented by different quantum operators. For example, operators representing
a particular value of the time average of a dynamical variable can be
constructed in two ways: First, as the projection onto the value of the time
averaged Heisenberg picture operator for the dynamical variable. Second, as the
class operator defined by a sum over those histories of the dynamical variable
that have the specified time-averaged value. We show both by explicit example
and general argument that the predictions of these different representations
agree in the classical limit and that sets of histories represented by them
decohere in that limit.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, Revtex4, minor correction
Decoherence of Hydrodynamic Histories: A Simple Spin Model
In the context of the decoherent histories approach to the quantum mechanics
of closed systems, Gell-Mann and Hartle have argued that the variables
typically characterizing the quasiclassical domain of a large complex system
are the integrals over small volumes of locally conserved densities --
hydrodynamic variables. The aim of this paper is to exhibit some simple models
in which approximate decoherence arises as a result of local conservation. We
derive a formula which shows the explicit connection between local conservation
and approximate decoherence. We then consider a class of models consisting of a
large number of weakly interacting components, in which the projections onto
local densities may be decomposed into projections onto one of two alternatives
of the individual components. The main example we consider is a one-dimensional
chain of locally coupled spins, and the projections are onto the total spin in
a subsection of the chain. We compute the decoherence functional for histories
of local densities, in the limit when the number of components is very large.
We find that decoherence requires two things: the smearing volumes must be
sufficiently large to ensure approximate conservation, and the local densities
must be partitioned into sufficiently large ranges to ensure protection against
quantum fluctuations.Comment: Standard TeX, 36 pages + 3 figures (postscript) Revised abstract and
introduction. To appear in Physical Review
The interpretation of the solutions of the Wheeler De Witt equation
We extract transition amplitudes among matter constituents of the universe
from the solutions of the Wheeler De Witt equation. The physical interpretation
of these solutions is then reached by an analysis of the properties of the
transition amplitudes. The interpretation so obtained is based on the current
carried by these solutions and confirms ideas put forward by Vilenkin.Comment: 11 pages, latex, no figure
Sum-over-histories origin of the composition laws of relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum cosmology
The scope of the paper has been broadened to include a more complete
discussion of the following topics: The derivation of composition laws in
quantum cosmology. The connection between the existence of a composition law in
the sum over histories approach to relativistic quantum mechanics and quantum
cosmology, and the existence of a canonical formulation.Comment: 36 page
Spacetime Coarse Grainings in the Decoherent Histories Approach to Quantum Theory
We investigate the possibility of assigning consistent probabilities to sets
of histories characterized by whether they enter a particular subspace of the
Hilbert space of a closed system during a given time interval. In particular we
investigate the case that this subspace is a region of the configuration space.
This corresponds to a particular class of coarse grainings of spacetime
regions. We consider the arrival time problem and the problem of time in
reparametrization invariant theories as for example in canonical quantum
gravity. Decoherence conditions and probabilities for those application are
derived. The resulting decoherence condition does not depend on the explicit
form of the restricted propagator that was problematic for generalizations such
as application in quantum cosmology. Closely related is the problem of
tunnelling time as well as the quantum Zeno effect. Some interpretational
comments conclude, and we discuss the applicability of this formalism to deal
with the arrival time problem.Comment: 23 pages, Few changes and added references in v
Quantum-Mechanical Histories and the Uncertainty Principle. II. Fluctuations About Classical Predictability
This paper is concerned with two questions in the decoherent histories
approach to quantum mechanics: the emergence of approximate classical
predictability, and the fluctuations about it necessitated by the uncertainty
principle. We consider histories characterized by position samplings at
moments of time. We use this to construct a probability distribution on the
value of (discrete approximations to) the field equations, , at times. We find that it is peaked around ; thus classical
correlations are exhibited. We show that the width of the peak is
largely independent of the initial state and the uncertainty principle takes
the form , where is
the width of the position samplings, and is the timescale between
projections. We determine the modifications to this result when the system is
coupled to a thermal environment. We show that the thermal fluctuations become
comparable with the quantum fluctuations under the same conditions that
decoherence effects come into play. We also study an alternative measure of
classical correlations, namely the conditional probability of finding a
sequence of position samplings, given that particular initial phase space data
have occurred. We use these results to address the issue of the formal
interpretation of the probabilities for sequences of position samplings in the
decoherent histories approach to quantum mechanics. The decoherence of the
histories is also briefly discussed.Comment: 40 pages (plain Tex), Imperial College Preprin
Decoherent histories analysis of the relativistic particle
The Klein-Gordon equation is a useful test arena for quantum cosmological
models described by the Wheeler-DeWitt equation. We use the decoherent
histories approach to quantum theory to obtain the probability that a free
relativistic particle crosses a section of spacelike surface. The decoherence
functional is constructed using path integral methods with initial states
attached using the (positive definite) ``induced'' inner product between
solutions to the constraint equation. The notion of crossing a spacelike
surface requires some attention, given that the paths in the path integral may
cross such a surface many times, but we show that first and last crossings are
in essence the only useful possibilities. Different possible results for the
probabilities are obtained, depending on how the relativistic particle is
quantized (using the Klein-Gordon equation, or its square root, with the
associated Newton-Wigner states). In the Klein-Gordon quantization, the
decoherence is only approximate, due to the fact that the paths in the path
integral may go backwards and forwards in time. We compare with the results
obtained using operators which commute with the constraint (the ``evolving
constants'' method).Comment: 51 pages, plain Te
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