Self‐Induced Decoherence and the Classical Limit of Quantum Mechanics

Philosophy of Science 72 (5):764-776 (2005)
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Abstract

In this paper we argue that the emergence of the classical world from the underlying quantum reality involves two elements: self-induced decoherence and macroscopicity. Self-induced decoherence does not require the openness of the system and its interaction with the environment: a single closed system can decohere when its Hamiltonian has continuous spectrum. We show that, if the system is macroscopic enough, after self-induced decoherence it can be described as an ensemble of classical distributions weighted by their corresponding probabilities. We also argue that classicality is an emergent property that arises when the behavior of the system is described from an observational perspective.

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Citations of this work

A modal-Hamiltonian interpretation of quantum mechanics.Olimpia Lombardi & Mario Castagnino - 2008 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 39 (2):380-443.
A new application of the modal-Hamiltonian interpretation of quantum mechanics: The problem of optical isomerism.Sebastian Fortin, Olimpia Lombardi & Juan Camilo Martínez González - 2018 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 62:123-135.

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