Decoherence induced by a fluctuating Aharonov-Casher phase

Journal Article · Sat Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2005 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.72.042111· OSTI ID:20718691

Lombardo, Fernando C; Mazzitelli, Francisco D; Villar, Paula I ^[1]

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1. Departamento de Fisica Juan Jose Giambiagi, FCEyN UBA, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellon I, 1428 Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Dipole interference is studied when atomic systems are coupled to classical electromagnetic fields. The interaction between the dipoles and the classical fields induces a time-varying Aharonov-Casher phase. Averaging over the phase generates a suppression of fringe visibility in the interference pattern. We show that, for suitable experimental conditions, the loss of contrast for dipoles can be observable and almost as large as the corresponding one for coherent electrons. We analyze different trajectories in order to show the dependence of the decoherence factor with the velocity of the particles.

• OSTI ID: 20718691
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 72, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.72.042111; (c) 2005 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
AHARONOV-BOHM EFFECT
DIPOLES
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS
ELECTRONS
INTERFERENCE
QUANTUM DECOHERENCE
QUANTUM MECHANICS