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Cited by 928

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 43 of the 43 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Classical equations for quantum systems

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Gell-Mann, Murray, Hartle, James B.·1993·Physical Review D
DOI 10.1103/physrevd.47.3345
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Abstract

The origin of the phenomenological deterministic laws that approximately govern the quasiclassical domain of familiar experience is considered in the context of the quantum mechanics of closed systems such as the universe as a whole. A formulation of quantum mechanics is used that predicts probabilities for the individual members of a set of alternative coarse-grained histories that decohere, which means that there is negligible quantum interference between the individual histories in the set. We investigate the requirements for coarse grainings to yield decoherent sets of histories that are quasiclassical, i.e., such that the individual histories obey, with high probability, effective classical equations of motion interrupted continually by small fluctuations and occasionally by large ones. We discuss these requirements generally but study them specifically for coarse grainings of the type that follows a distinguished subset of a complete set of variables while ignoring the rest. More coarse graining is needed to achieve decoherence than would be suggested by naive arguments based on the uncertainty principle. Even coarser graining is required in the distinguished variables for them to have the necessary inertia to approach classical predictability in the presence of the noise consisting of the fluctuations that typical mechanisms of decoherence produce. We describe the derivation of phenomenological equations of motion explicitly for a particular class of models. Those models assume configuration space and a fundamental Lagrangian that is the difference between a kinetic energy quadratic in the velocities and a potential energy. The distinguished variables are taken to be a fixed subset of coordinates of configuration space. The initial density matrix of the closed system is assumed to factor into a product of a density matrix in the distinguished subset and another in the rest of the coordinates. With these restrictions, we improve the derivation from quantum mechanics of the phenomenological equations of motion governing a quasiclassical domain in the following respects: Probabilities of the correlations in time that define equations of motion are explicitly considered. Fully nonlinear cases are studied. Methods are exhibited for finding the form of the phenomenological equations of motion even when these are only distantly related to those of the fundamental action. The demonstration of the connection between quantum-mechanical causality and causality in classical phenomenological equations of motion is generalized. The connections among decoherence, noise, dissipation, and the amount of coarse graining necessary to achieve classical predictability are investigated quantitatively. Routes to removing the restrictions on the models in order to deal with more realistic coarse grainings are described.

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Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 14

  1. M. Gell-Mann, 1990, SFI Studies in the Sciences of Complexity
  2. M. Gell-Mann, 1990, Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics in the Light of New Technology
  3. M. Gell-Mann, 1990, Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on High Energy Physics, Singapore, 1990
  4. B.-L. Hu, 1993, Phys. Rev. D, 47, 1576
  5. C. W. Gardiner, 1992, Quantum Noise
  6. M. Gell-Mann, 1992, Proceedings of the 1st International A. D. Sakharov Conference on Physics, Moscow, USSR, 1991
  7. M. Gell-Mann, 1993, Proceedings of the NATO Workshop on the Physical Origins of Time Asymmetry, Mazagon, Spain, 1991
  8. E. Fitzgerald, 1859, Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
  9. W. Żurek, Proceedings of the NATO Workshop on the Physical Origins of Time Asymmetry
  10. W. Żurek, 1984, Non-Equilibrium Quantum Statistical Physics
  11. K. Husimi, 1940, Proc. Phys. Math. Soc. Jpn., 22, 264
  12. R. P. Feynman, 1987, Quantum Implications: Essays in Honor of David Bohm
  13. J. Halliwell, 1992, Phys. Rev. D, 46, 1610, 10.1103/PhysRevD.46.1610 · doi:10.1103/physrevd.46.1610
  14. S. Ryang, 1984, Prog. Theor. Phys., 71, 1108, 10.1143/PTP.71.1108 · doi:10.1143/ptp.71.1108

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Metadata

Authors
Gell-Mann, M., & Hartle, J. B.
Venue
Physical Review D
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Published
1993-04-15
Volume
47
Issue
8
Pages
3345-3382
ISSN
0556-2821 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1103/physrevd.47.3345
OpenAlex
W2120334388
Cited by
928
References
43
FWCI
26.02
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
green
Licence
link.aps.org/licenses/aps-default-license (vor)

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