Physics – Quantum Physics
Scientific paper
2005-03-21
Physics
Quantum Physics
17 pages, 24 figures
Scientific paper
10.1103/PhysRevA.72.022109
This paper is motivated by the suggestion [W. Zurek, Physica Scripta, T76, 186 (1998)] that the chaotic tumbling of the satellite Hyperion would become non-classical within 20 years, but for the effects of environmental decoherence. The dynamics of quantum and classical probability distributions are compared for a satellite rotating perpendicular to its orbital plane, driven by the gravitational gradient. The model is studied with and without environmental decoherence. Without decoherence, the maximum quantum-classical (QC) differences in its average angular momentum scale as hbar^{2/3} for chaotic states, and as hbar^2 for non-chaotic states, leading to negligible QC differences for a macroscopic object like Hyperion. The quantum probability distributions do not approach their classical limit smoothly, having an extremely fine oscillatory structure superimposed on the smooth classical background. For a macroscopic object, this oscillatory structure is too fine to be resolved by any realistic measurement. Either a small amount of smoothing (due to the finite resolution of the apparatus) or a very small amount of environmental decoherence is sufficient ensure the classical limit. Under decoherence, the QC differences in the probability distributions scale as (hbar^2/D)^{1/6}, where D is the momentum diffusion parameter. We conclude that decoherence is not essential to explain the classical behavior of macroscopic bodies.
Ballentine Leslie E.
Wiebe Nathan
No associations
LandOfFree
The Quantum Mechanics of Hyperion does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with The Quantum Mechanics of Hyperion, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Quantum Mechanics of Hyperion will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-160512