Testing eigenstate decoherence hypothesis in a model of collisional decoherence

TL;DR

This paper investigates the eigenstate decoherence hypothesis in a model of a heavy particle interacting with a gas, finding that while most eigenstates become classical-like, some remain non-classical, challenging the hypothesis.

Contribution

The study provides numerical evidence that the eigenstate decoherence hypothesis is violated for certain eigenstates in a collisional decoherence model.

Findings

Most eigenstates become classical-like after interaction.

Some eigenstates remain non-classical, violating EDH.

Weak EDH holds for the majority of eigenstates.

Abstract

The eigenstate decoherence hypothesis (EDH) asserts that each individual eigenstate of a large closed system is locally classical-like. We test this hypothesis for a heavy particle interacting with a gas of light particles. This system is paradigmatic for studies of the quantum-to-classical transition: The reduced state of the heavy particle is widely believed to rapidly loose any nonclassical features due to the interaction with the gas. Yet, we find numerical evidence that the EDH is violated: certain eigenstates of this model are manifestly non-classical. Only the weak version of EDH referring to the majority (instead of the totality) of eigenstates holds.