Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userConsistent histories for tunneling molecules subject to collisional decoherence
117
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
The decoherence of a two-state tunneling molecule, such as a chiral molecule or ammonia, due to collisions with a buffer gas is analyzed in terms of a succession of quantum states of the molecule satisfying the conditions for a consistent family of histories. With $hbar omega$ the separation in energy of the levels in the isolated molecule and $gamma$ a decoherence rate proportional to the rate of collisions, we find for $gamma gg omega$ (strong decoherence) a consistent family in which the molecule flips randomly back and forth between the left- and right-handed chiral states in a stationary Markov process. For $gamma < omega$ there is a family in which the molecule oscillates continuously between the different chiral states, but with occasional random changes of phase, at a frequency that goes to zero at a phase transition $gamma = omega$. This transition is similar to the behavior of the inversion frequency of ammonia with increasing pressure, but will be difficult to observe in chiral molecules such as D$_2$S$_2$. There are additional consistent families both for $gamma > omega$ and for $gamma < omega$. In addition we relate the speed with which chiral information is transferred to the environment to the rate of decrease of complementary types of information (e.g., parity information) remaining in the molecule itself.
rate research
Read More
We re-derive the quantum master equation for the decoherence of a massive Brownian particle due to collisions with the lighter particles from a thermal environment. Our careful treatment avoids the occurrence of squares of Dirac delta functions. It leads to a decoherence rate which is smaller by a factor of 2 pi compared to previous findings. This result, which is in agreement with recent experiments, is confirmed by both a physical analysis of the problem and by a perturbative calculation in the weak coupling limit.
The relationship between quantum logic, standard propositional logic, and the (consistent) histories rules for quantum reasoning is discussed. It is shown that Maudlins claim [Am. J. Phys. 79 (2011) 954] that the histories approach is inconsistent, is incorrect. The histories approach is both internally consistent and adequate for discussing the physical situations considered by Maudlin.
An example shows that weak decoherence is more restrictive than the minimal logical decoherence structure that allows probabilities to be used consistently for quantum histories. The probabilities in the sum rules that define minimal decoherence are all calculated by using a projection operator to describe each possibility for the state at each time. Weak decoherence requires more sum rules. They bring in additional variables, that require different measurements and a different way to calculate probabilities, and raise questions of operational meaning. The example shows that extending the linearly positive probability formula from weak to minimal decoherence gives probabilities that are different from those calculated in the usual way using the Born and von Neumann rules and a projection operator at each time.
We identify the dominant collisional decoherence mechanism which serves to stabilize and super-select the configuration states of chiral molecules. A high-energy description of this effect is compared to the results of the exact molecular scattering problem, obtained by solving the coupled-channel equations. It allows to predict the experimental conditions for observing the collisional suppression of the tunneling dynamics between the left-handed and the right-handed configuration of D2S2 molecules.
Although the notion of superdeterminism can, in principle, account for the violation of the Bell inequalities, this potential explanation has been roundly rejected by the quantum foundations community. The arguments for rejection, one of the most substantive coming from Bell himself, are critically reviewed. In particular, analysis of Bells argument reveals an implicit unwarranted assumption: that the Euclidean metric is the appropriate yardstick for measuring distances in state space. Bells argument is largely negated if this yardstick is instead based on the alternative $p$-adic metric. Such a metric, common in number theory, arises naturally when describing chaotic systems which evolve precisely on self-similar invariant sets in their state space. A locally-causal realistic model of quantum entanglement is developed, based on the premise that the laws of physics ultimately derive from an invariant-set geometry in the state space of a deterministic quasi-cyclic mono-universe. Based on this, the notion of a complex Hilbert vector is reinterpreted in terms of an uncertain selection from a finite sample space of states, leading to a novel form of `consistent histories based on number-theoretic properties of the transcendental cosine function. This leads to novel realistic interpretations of position/momentum non-commutativity, EPR, the Bell Theorem and the Tsirelson bound. In this inherently holistic theory - neither conspiratorial, retrocausal, fine tuned nor nonlocal - superdeterminism is not invoked by fiat but is emergent from these `consistent histories number-theoretic constraints. Invariant set theory provides new perspectives on many of the contemporary problems at the interface of quantum and gravitational physics, and, if correct, may signal the end of particle physics beyond the Standard Model.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
