Decoherence of Macroscopic Objects from Relativistic Effect

TL;DR

This paper explores how relativistic effects intrinsically cause decoherence in macroscopic objects, with the decoherence time scale limited by the number of particles, highlighting a fundamental link between relativity and quantum coherence.

Contribution

It demonstrates that relativistic effects induce intrinsic decoherence in macroscopic objects, establishing a fundamental connection between special relativity and quantum decoherence mechanisms.

Findings

Decoherence time scale is at most proportional to sqrt(N)

Relativistic coupling between collective and relative motions causes decoherence

Minimum decoherence is intrinsically linked to relativistic effects

Abstract

We study how the decoherence of macroscopic objects is induced intrisinically by relativistic effect. With the degree of freedom of center of mass (CM) characterizing the collective quantum state of a macroscopic object (MO), it is found that a MO consisting of N particles can decohere with time scale no more than sqrt(N). Here, the special relativity can induce the coupling of the collective motion mode and the relative motion modes in an order of 1/c2, which intrinsically results in the above minimum decoherence.