Quantum systems under the influence of external conditions: fluctuations and decoherence

TL;DR

This thesis explores the quantum-to-classical transition by analyzing decoherence and energy activation in quantum systems influenced by various environments, with applications to interferometry and phase transitions.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the relationship between decoherence and energy activation, and applies these concepts to real experiments and quantum phase transitions.

Findings

Energy activation is a post-decoherence phenomenon.

Decoherence occurs rapidly during quantum phase transitions.

Interaction with time-dependent fields induces observable Aharonov phases.

Abstract

In this Thesis we study the quantum to classical transition process in the context of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. We shall analyze the effects that general environments, namely ohmic and non-ohmic, at zero and high temperature induce over a quantum Brownian particle. We state that the evolution of the system can be summarized in terms of two main environmental induced physical phenomena: decoherence and energy activation. In this Thesis, we shall show that the latter is a post-decoherence phenomenon. As the energy is an observable, the excitation process can be consider a direct indicator of the system-environment entanglement particularly useful at zero temperature. From other point of view, we shall study different attempts to show the decoherence process in double-slit-like experiments both for charged particles (electrons) and for neutral particles with permanent dipole moments. In this context, we shall show that the interaction between the particles and time-dependent fields induces a time-varying Aharonov phase. In this context, we shall apply our results to a real matter wave interferometry experiment. We shall also show under which general conditions the geometry phase of a quantum open system can be observed.Finally, we shall study the decoherence process during a quantum phase transition. In this framework, we shall show that it can be phrased easily in terms of the decoherence functional, without having to use the master equation. To demonstrate this, we shall consider the decohering effects due to the displacement of domain boundaries, with implications for the displacement of defects, in general. We shall see that decoherence arises so quickly in this event, that it is negligible in comparison to decoherence due to field fluctuations in the way defined in previous papers.