Sub-Planck scale structures in a vibrating molecule in the presence of decoherence

TL;DR

This paper investigates how decoherence impacts the delicate sub-Planck scale structures in the vibrational wave packets of molecules, specifically hydrogen iodide, by analyzing their evolution under environmental influences.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the decoherence effects on sub-Planck structures in molecular vibrational states using a master equation approach.

Findings

Decoherence significantly diminishes sub-Planck structures.

The sensitivity of these structures varies with environmental parameters.

Hydrogen iodide's vibrational wave packets are notably affected by photonic and phononic environments.

Abstract

We study the effect of decoherence on the sub-Planck scale structures of the vibrational wave packet of a molecule. The time evolution of these wave packets is investigated under the influence of a photonic or phononic environment. We determine the master equation describing the reduced dynamics of the wave-packet and analyze the sensitivity of the sub-Planck structures against decoherence in the case of a hydrogen iodide (HI) molecule.