https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2005-00284-2
Loss of quantum coherence in a system coupled to a zero-temperature environment
Laboratoire de physique et de
modélisation des milieux condensées,
Université Joseph Fourier & CNRS, 25 av. des Martyrs, BP 166, 38042 Cedex, France
Received:
22
March
2004
Revised:
28
April
2005
Published online:
7
September
2005
We discuss the influence of a zero-temperature environment on a coherent quantum system. First, we calculate the reduced density operator of the system in the framework of the well-known, exactly solvable model of an oscillator coupled to a bath of harmonic oscillators. Then, we propose the sketch of an Aharonov–Bohm-like interferometer showing, through interference measurements, the decrease of the coherence length of the system due to the interaction with the environment, even in the zero temperature limit.
PACS: 03.65.Yz – Decoherence; open systems; quantum statistical methods
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2005
