Year: 1994
Type: article
Abstract: 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.
Source: Physical Review Letters
Authors: Wojciech Hubert Zurek, Juan Pablo Paz
Institution: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Language: English
Subfield: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1992011287