Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 230401 (2005) [4 pages]An Intrinsic Limit to Quantum Coherence due to Spontaneous Symmetry BreakingReceived 16 August 2004; published 13 June 2005 We investigate the influence of spontaneous symmetry breaking on the decoherence of a many-particle quantum system. This decoherence process is analyzed in an exactly solvable model system that is known to be representative of symmetry broken macroscopic systems in equilibrium. It is shown that spontaneous symmetry breaking imposes a fundamental limit to the time that a system can stay quantum coherent. This universal time scale is tspon≃2πNℏ/(kBT), given in terms of the number of microscopic degrees of freedom N, temperature T, and the constants of Planck (ℏ) and Boltzmann (kB). © 2005 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.230401
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.230401
PACS:
03.65.Yz, 75.10.-b, 75.45.+j
|
|
About | Terms and Conditions | Subscriptions | Search | Help
Use of the American Physical Society websites and journals implies that the user has read and agrees to our Terms and Conditions and any applicable Subscription Agreement. Physical Review®, Physical Review Letters®, Reviews of Modern Physics®, and Physical Review Special Topics® are trademarks of the American Physical Society.