dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaDecoherence, einselection, and the quantum origins of the classical
| Authors | Wojciech H. Zurek |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | quant-ph/0105127 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0105127 |
| DOI | 10.1103/RevModPhys.75.715 |
| Journal | Rev. Mod. Phys. 75, 715 (2003) |
Abstract
Decoherence is caused by the interaction with the environment. Environment monitors certain observables of the system, destroying interference between the pointer states corresponding to their eigenvalues. This leads to environment-induced superselection or einselection, a quantum process associated with selective loss of information. Einselected pointer states are stable. They can retain correlations with the rest of the Universe in spite of the environment. Einselection enforces classicality by imposing an effective ban on the vast majority of the Hilbert space, eliminating especially the flagrantly non-local "Schr\"odinger cat" states. Classical structure of phase space emerges from the quantum Hilbert space in the appropriate macroscopic limit: Combination of einselection with dynamics leads to the idealizations of a point and of a classical trajectory. In measurements, einselection replaces quantum entanglement between the apparatus and the measured system with the classical correlation.
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"abstract": "Decoherence is caused by the interaction with the environment. Environment\nmonitors certain observables of the system, destroying interference between the\npointer states corresponding to their eigenvalues. This leads to\nenvironment-induced superselection or einselection, a quantum process\nassociated with selective loss of information. Einselected pointer states are\nstable. They can retain correlations with the rest of the Universe in spite of\nthe environment. Einselection enforces classicality by imposing an effective\nban on the vast majority of the Hilbert space, eliminating especially the\nflagrantly non-local \"Schr\\\"odinger cat\" states. Classical structure of phase\nspace emerges from the quantum Hilbert space in the appropriate macroscopic\nlimit: Combination of einselection with dynamics leads to the idealizations of\na point and of a classical trajectory. In measurements, einselection replaces\nquantum entanglement between the apparatus and the measured system with the\nclassical correlation.",
"arxiv_id": "quant-ph/0105127",
"authors": [
"Wojciech H. Zurek"
],
"categories": [
"quant-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1103/RevModPhys.75.715",
"journal_ref": "Rev. Mod. Phys. 75, 715 (2003)",
"title": "Decoherence, einselection, and the quantum origins of the classical",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0105127"
},
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