Decoherence of Macroscopic States at Finite Temperatures

TL;DR

This paper investigates how finite temperature affects the decoherence of macroscopic superpositions of light states, using a novel approach based on the Master equation and a modified Mandel function, extending previous zero-temperature results.

Contribution

It introduces an original method combining the Master equation formalism with a modified Mandel function to analyze temperature-dependent decoherence of macroscopic quantum states.

Findings

Reproduces known zero-temperature decoherence results

Predicts finite-temperature effects on quantum state decay

Provides a framework for experimental comparison

Abstract

We study the macroscopic superposition of light coherent states of the type Schrodinger cat states; analizying, in particular, the role of the temperature in the decoherence processes, characteristic of the superposition of macroscopic states. The method we use here is based on the Master equation formalism, introducing an original approach. We use a modified Mandel function that is well adapted to the problem. This work is motivated by the experiments proposed by S. Haroche and collaborators in the 90's. In these experiments two Rydberg atoms were sent to a cavity in which a coherent state had been previously injected, monitoring the decay of quantum states due to dissipation. We find Haroche and collaborator's result at zero temperature and we predict the behavior of the field states in the cavity at finite temperatures.