Decoherence, chaos, and the second law

Journal Article · Mon Apr 18 00:00:00 EDT 1994 · Physical Review Letters; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.72.2508· OSTI ID:7271623

Zurek, W H; Paz, J P ^[1]

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1. Theoretical Astrophysics, T-6, Mail Stop B288, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)

Quantum wave function of a chaotic system spreads rapidly over distances on which the potential is significantly nonlinear. As a result, the effective force is no longer just a gradient of the potential, and predictions of classical and quantum dynamics begin to differ. We show how the interaction with the environment limits distances over which quantum coherence can persist, and therefore reconciles quantum dynamics with classical Hamiltonian chaos. The entropy production rate for such open chaotic systems exhibits a sharp transition between reversible and dissipative regimes, where it is set by the chaotic dynamics.

• OSTI ID: 7271623
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters; (United States), Vol. 72:16; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
POTENTIALS
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
DYNAMICS
ENTROPY
HAMILTONIANS
THERMODYNAMICS
WAVE FUNCTIONS
FUNCTIONS
MATHEMATICAL OPERATORS
MECHANICS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
QUANTUM OPERATORS
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
661100* - Classical & Quantum Mechanics- (1992-)
661300 - Other Aspects of Physical Science- (1992-)