Decoherence and dynamical entropy generation in quantum field theory
We formulate a novel approach to decoherence based on neglecting observationally inaccessible correlators. We apply our formalism to a renormalised interacting quantum field theoretical model. Using out-of-equilibrium field theory techniques we show that the Gaussian von Neumann entropy for a pure q...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
20 January 2012
|
| In: |
Physics letters
Year: 2012, Volume: 707, Issue: 2, Pages: 315-318 |
| ISSN: | 1873-2445 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.physletb.2011.12.049 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, Volltext: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2011.12.049 Verlag, Volltext: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269311015061 
|
| Author Notes: | Jurjen F. Koksma, Tomislav Prokopec, Michael G. Schmidt |
| Summary: | We formulate a novel approach to decoherence based on neglecting observationally inaccessible correlators. We apply our formalism to a renormalised interacting quantum field theoretical model. Using out-of-equilibrium field theory techniques we show that the Gaussian von Neumann entropy for a pure quantum state increases to the interacting thermal entropy. This quantifies decoherence and thus measures how classical our pure state has become. The decoherence rate is equal to the single particle decay rate in our model. We also compare our approach to existing approaches to decoherence in a simple quantum mechanical model. We show that the entropy following from the perturbative master equation suffers from physically unacceptable secular growth. |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | Gesehen am 15.11.2018 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1873-2445 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.physletb.2011.12.049 |