Decoherence and quantum trajectories

Abstract

Decoherence is the process by which quantum systems interact and become correlated with their external environments; quantum trajectories are a powerful technique by which decohering systems can be resolved into stochastic evolutions, conditioned on different possible ``measurements'' of the environment. By calling on recently-developed tools from quantum information theory, we can analyze simplified models of decoherence, explicitly quantifying the flow of information and randomness between the system, the environment, and potential observers.Comment: 14 pages, Springer LNP LaTeX macros, 1 figure in encapsulated postscript format. To appear in proceedings of DICE 200