Extreme Decoherence and Quantum Chaos

TL;DR

This paper investigates the limits of decoherence in quantum systems, revealing that chaotic systems can exhibit exponentially fast decoherence, with implications for wave function collapse and black hole physics.

Contribution

It demonstrates that chaotic quantum systems can have decoherence rates that grow exponentially with particle number, surpassing previous polynomial bounds, and explores implications for fundamental physics.

Findings

Chaotic systems exhibit exponential decoherence rates.

Decoherence exceeds polynomial dependence in chaotic systems.

Implications for wave function collapse and black hole unitarity loss.

Abstract

We study the ultimate limits to the decoherence rate associated with dephasing processes. Fluctuating chaotic quantum systems are shown to exhibit extreme decoherence, with a rate that scales exponentially with the particle number, thus exceeding the polynomial dependence of systems with fluctuating $k$-body interactions. Our findings suggest the use of quantum chaotic systems as a natural test-bed for spontaneous wave function collapse models. We further discuss the implications on the decoherence of AdS/CFT black holes resulting from the unitarity loss associated with energy dephasing.