Decoherence and Trajectories Implied by a Modified Schrodinger Equation
Decoherence and Trajectories Implied by a Modified Schrodinger Equation
Decoherence is defined as the emergence of classical behavior through interaction of a quantum system with the environment. It is the most widely accepted explanation of how quantum systems become classical. For other points of view, see, for example, [1, 2]. Interference of coherent superposition of quantum amplitudes , in Young's double-slit experiment is a preeminent feature of quantum systems, but in the classical limit, the interference term vanishes. Classical behavior is exhibited in the trajectories of the particles when each particle goes through one slit and is not affected by the other slit.
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This kind of decoherence is caused by the vanishing of the quantum potential, in contrast to the general Bohmian view [3, 4], in which trajectories do not cross the axis of symmetry. For a state that has decohered, the acceleration term becomes independent of the quantum potential.
This Demonstration shows what happens when only the interference term in the quantum potential vanishes. Fourteen possible trajectories are shown (white/blue) for given initial positions that are linearly distributed around the peaks of the wave.