296 research outputs found
Chaos, Thermodynamics and Quantum Mechanics: an Application to Celestial Dynamics
We address the issue of the quantum-classical correspondence in chaotic
systems using, as recently done by Zurek [e-print quant-ph/9802054], the solar
system as a whole as a case study: this author shows that the classicality of
the planetary motion is ensured by the environment-induced decoherence. We show
that equivalent results are provided by the theories of spontaneous
fluctuations and that these latter theories, in some cases, result in a still
faster process of decoherence. We show that, as an additional benefit, the
assumption of spontaneous fluctuation makes it possible to genuinely derive
thermodynamics from mechanics, namely, without implicitly assuming
thermodynamics.Comment: 9 pages, two tables included, RevTex. Concluding part of Sec. IV
revised and shortene
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