Quantum Limits for Measurements on Macroscopic Bodies : A Decoherence Analysis

TL;DR

This paper investigates the fundamental quantum measurement limits for macroscopic objects using a decoherence-based approach, analyzing free mass and harmonic oscillator systems and comparing with prior methods.

Contribution

Introduces a novel decoherence-based method to determine quantum measurement limits on macroscopic bodies, extending previous analyses.

Findings

Decoherence approach provides new insights into measurement limits.

Results differ from traditional quantum limit calculations.

Applicable to both free mass and harmonic oscillator systems.

Abstract

We consider in this paper the quantum limits for measurements on macroscopic bodies which are obtained in a novel way employing the concept of decoherence coming from an analysis of the quantum mechanics of dissipative systems. Two cases are analysed, the free mass and the harmonic oscillator, and for both systems we compare our approach with previous treatments of such limits.