Decoherence and the Transition from Quantum to Classical

OCT 01, 1991

The environment surrounding a quantum system can, in effect, monitor some of the system’s observobles. As a result, the eigenstates of those observables continuously decohere and can behave like classical states.

DOI: 10.1063/1.881293

Wojciech H. Zurek

Quantum mechanics works exceedingly well in all practical applications. No example of conflict between its predictions and experiment is known. Without quantum physics we could not explain the behavior of solids, the structure and function of DNA, the color of the stars, the action of lasers or the properties of superfluids. Yet well over half a century after its inception, the debate about the relation of quantum mechanics to the familiar physical world continues. How can a theory that can account ith precision for everything we can measure still be deemed lacking?

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More about the authors

Wojciech H. Zurek, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos.