Coherent states via decoherence

Wojciech H. Zurek, Salman Habib, and Juan Pablo Paz
Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 1187 – Published 1 March 1993
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Abstract

The rate at which pure initial states deteriorate into mixtures is computed for a harmonic oscillator interacting with an environment in thermal equilibrium. The decoherence process resulting from this interaction selects a set of states characterized by maximal stability (or minimal loss of predictive power) which can be quantified by the rate of increase in either linear or statistical entropy. In the weak coupling limit, coherent states are shown to produce the least entropy, thus becoming the natural counterparts of classical points in phase space.

  • Received 10 June 1992

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.70.1187

©1993 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Wojciech H. Zurek, Salman Habib, and Juan Pablo Paz

  • Theoretical Astrophysics, Mail Stop B288, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545

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Issue

Vol. 70, Iss. 9 — 1 March 1993

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