Decoherence in an interacting quantum field theory: Thermal case
We study the decoherence of a renormalized quantum field theoretical system. We consider our novel correlator approach to decoherence where entropy is generated by neglecting observationally inaccessible correlators. Using out-of-equilibrium field theory techniques at finite temperatures, we show th...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Physical Society
2011
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67079 |
| _version_ | 1826216053616672768 |
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| author | Prokopec, Tomislav Schmidt, Michael G. Koksma, Jurjen Ferdinand |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Prokopec, Tomislav Schmidt, Michael G. Koksma, Jurjen Ferdinand |
| author_sort | Prokopec, Tomislav |
| collection | MIT |
| description | We study the decoherence of a renormalized quantum field theoretical system. We consider our novel correlator approach to decoherence where entropy is generated by neglecting observationally inaccessible correlators. Using out-of-equilibrium field theory techniques at finite temperatures, we show that the Gaussian von Neumann entropy for a pure quantum state asymptotes to the interacting thermal entropy. The decoherence rate can be well described by the single particle decay rate in our model. Connecting to electroweak baryogenesis scenarios, we moreover study the effects on the entropy of a changing mass of the system field. Finally, we compare our correlator approach to existing approaches to decoherence in the simple quantum mechanical analogue of our field theoretical model. The entropy following from the perturbative master equation suffers from physically unacceptable secular growth. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:41:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/67079 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:41:34Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/670792022-10-03T07:38:30Z Decoherence in an interacting quantum field theory: Thermal case Prokopec, Tomislav Schmidt, Michael G. Koksma, Jurjen Ferdinand Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Koksma, Jurjen Ferdinand Koksma, Jurjen Ferdinand We study the decoherence of a renormalized quantum field theoretical system. We consider our novel correlator approach to decoherence where entropy is generated by neglecting observationally inaccessible correlators. Using out-of-equilibrium field theory techniques at finite temperatures, we show that the Gaussian von Neumann entropy for a pure quantum state asymptotes to the interacting thermal entropy. The decoherence rate can be well described by the single particle decay rate in our model. Connecting to electroweak baryogenesis scenarios, we moreover study the effects on the entropy of a changing mass of the system field. Finally, we compare our correlator approach to existing approaches to decoherence in the simple quantum mechanical analogue of our field theoretical model. The entropy following from the perturbative master equation suffers from physically unacceptable secular growth. Utrecht University Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (Netherlands) (Grant No. 07PR2522) 2011-11-18T20:00:46Z 2011-11-18T20:00:46Z 2011-04 2011-02 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1550-7998 1550-2368 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67079 Koksma, Jurjen, Tomislav Prokopec, and Michael Schmidt. “Decoherence in an interacting quantum field theory: Thermal case.” Physical Review D 83 (2011): n. pag. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. © 2011 American Physical Society en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.83.085011 Physical Review D Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Physical Society APS |
| spellingShingle | Prokopec, Tomislav Schmidt, Michael G. Koksma, Jurjen Ferdinand Decoherence in an interacting quantum field theory: Thermal case |
| title | Decoherence in an interacting quantum field theory: Thermal case |
| title_full | Decoherence in an interacting quantum field theory: Thermal case |
| title_fullStr | Decoherence in an interacting quantum field theory: Thermal case |
| title_full_unstemmed | Decoherence in an interacting quantum field theory: Thermal case |
| title_short | Decoherence in an interacting quantum field theory: Thermal case |
| title_sort | decoherence in an interacting quantum field theory thermal case |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67079 |
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