Abstract
We show that the “reduction of the wavepacket” caused by the interaction with the environment occurs on a timescale which is typically many orders of magnitude shorter than the relaxation timescale τ. In particular, we show that in a system interacting with a “canonical” heat bath of harmonic oscillators decorrelation timescale of two pieces of the wave-packet separated by N thermal de Broglie wavelengths is approximately τ/N2. Therefore, in the classical limit ℏ → 0 dynamical reversibility (τ → ∞) is compatible with “instantaneous” coherence loss.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
WH Zurek, “Pointer Basis of Quantum Apparatus: Into What Mixture Does the Wavepacket Collapse?,” Phys. Rev. D 24:1516 (1981).
WH Zurek, “Environment-Induced Superselection Rules,” Phys. Rev. D 26:1862 (1982).
E.P. Wigner, “Review of Quantum Mechanical Measurement Problem,” p. 43 of Ref. 6.
H.D. Zeh, “On the Irreversibility of Time and Observation in Quantum Theory,” in Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, B. d’Espagnat, ed., Academic Press, New York (1971).
W.H. Zurek, “Information Transfer in Quantum Measurements: Irreversibility and Amplification,” p. 87 in Ref. 6.
P. Meystre, M.O. Scully, eds., Quantum Optics, Experimental Gravitation and Measurement Theory, NATO ASI Series, Plenum Press, New York (1983).
A.O. Caldeira, A.J. Leggett, “Path Integral Approach to Quantum Brownian Motion,” Physica 121A:587 (1983), and references therein.
A.J. Leggett, “The Superposition Principle in a Macroscopic System,” p. 74 in Proceedings of the International Symposium on Foundation of Quantum Mechanics, S. Kamefuchi et al., eds., Physical Soc. of Japan, Tokyo (1983).
A.O. Caldeira, A.J. Leggett, “Influence of Damping on Quantum Interference: An Exactly Soluble Model,” Phys. Rev. A, submitted.
J. von Neumann, Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Princeton University Press, Princeton (1955).
N.S. Krylov, Works on Foundations of Statistical Physics, Princeton University Press, Princeton (1979).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1986 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Zurek, W.H. (1986). Reduction of the Wavepacket: How Long Does it Take?. In: Moore, G.T., Scully, M.O. (eds) Frontiers of Nonequilibrium Statistical Physics. NATO ASI Series, vol 135. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2181-1_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2181-1_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9284-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-2181-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive