Proof of quantum to classical transition for the center of mass of quantum many body systems

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the center of mass of large quantum many-body systems naturally transitions to classical mechanics under general conditions, without modifying quantum theory or external influences.

Contribution

It provides a rigorous proof of the quantum-to-classical transition for the center of mass in many-body systems based on realistic assumptions.

Findings

Center of mass behaves classically in the large particle limit.

The transition occurs without altering quantum mechanics or external environment.

Conditions include large total mass and finite position variance per particle.

Abstract

The classical limit of quantum mechanics is investigated, by focusing on the study of the center of mass of a many-body system where each particle is described by quantum mechanics. We study how, in the limit when the number of particles diverges and under quite general assumptions, the center of mass of the system is not anymore described by quantum mechanics but by classical mechanics: the center of mass of the system becomes with a well-defined position and momentum, the state of the center of mass is fully determined by its position and by its momentum, and its dynamics is given by the classical law of dynamics. In order to get this result, three assumptions on the many-body system are necessary: the total mass of the system must be much larger than the mass of each particle composing the system; at most a finite number of particles has non-zero correlation in position with an infinite number of particles; finally, when the number of particles composing the system diverge, the variance in position of each particle converges to a finite value. These assumptions are commonly realized for a macroscopic solid and liquid systems. Finally, we sketch a possible experimental setup aiming at observing the quantum-to-classical transition of the center of mass of a massive many-body system. The results obtained in this paper show how the classical limit of quantum mechanics can be naturally achieved without the need to modify quantum mechanics, without the need to have an external environment and without the need of changing the interpretations of quantum mechanics.