About this book
Introduction
In the original formulation of quantum mechanics the existence of a precise border between a microscopic world, governed by quantum mechanics, and a macroscopic world, described by classical mechanics was assumed. Modern theoretical and experimental physics has moved that border several times, carefully investigating its definition and making available to observation larger and larger quantum systems. The present book examines a paradigmatic case of the transition from quantum to classical behavior: A quantum particle is revealed in a tracking chamber as a trajectory obeying the laws of classical mechanics. The authors provide here a purely quantum-mechanical description of this behavior, thus helping to illuminate the nature of the border between the quantum and the classical.
Keywords
Classical behavior in quantum systems Classical tracks in a cloud chamber Environmental decoherence Microscopic-macroscopic boundary Quantum classical transition Quantum environments
Authors and affiliations
- Rodolfo Figari
- Alessandro Teta
- 1.Dipartimento di Fisica - INFN sezione di NapoliUniversità Federico IINapoliItaly
- 2.Dipartimento di MatematicaSapienza Università di RomaRomaItaly
Bibliographic information