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Decoherence and Fluctuations in Quantum Interference Experiments
Author(s) -
Mariano A.,
Facchi P.,
Pascazio S.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
fortschritte der physik
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.469
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1521-3978
pISSN - 0015-8208
DOI - 10.1002/1521-3978(200110)49:10/11<1033::aid-prop1033>3.0.co;2-u
Subject(s) - quantum decoherence , coherence (philosophical gambling strategy) , statistical physics , interference (communication) , visibility , physics , quantum mechanics , quantum , computer science , optics , channel (broadcasting) , computer network
We analyze the notion of quantum coherence in an interference experiment. We let the phase shifts fluctuate according to a given statistical distribution and introduce a decoherence parameter, defined in terms of a generalized visibility of the interference pattern. One might naively expect that a particle ensemble suffers a greater loss of quantum coherence by interacting with an increasingly randomized distribution of shifts. As we shall see, this is not always true.