Decoherence and damping in ideal gases

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that ideal quantum gases exhibit damping and decoherence in particle and current densities, with equations resembling Navier-Stokes and Landau damping, revealing characteristic scales intrinsic to the gas.

Contribution

It introduces a formal analysis showing damping and decoherence phenomena in ideal gases, linking quantum behavior with classical fluid dynamics concepts.

Findings

Damping observed in particle and current densities.

Decoherence leads to consistent density and current histories.

Characteristic length and time scales are intrinsic to the ideal gas.

Abstract

The particle and current densities are shown to display damping and undergo decoherence in ideal quantum gases. The damping is read off from the equations of motion reminiscent of the Navier-Stokes equations and shows some formal similarity with Landau damping. The decoherence leads to consistent density and current histories with characteristic length and time scales given by the ideal gas.