Decoherence and the Appearance of a Classical World in Quantum Theory

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XII

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2. Introduction

   • E. Joos

   Pages 1-5

3. Basic Concepts and Their Interpretation

   • H. D. Zeh

   Pages 7-40

4. Decoherence Through Interaction with the Environment

   • E. Joos

   Pages 41-180

5. Decoherence in Quantum Field Theory and Quantum Gravity

   • C. Kiefer

   Pages 181-225

6. Consistent Histories and Decoherence

   • C. Kiefer

   Pages 227-258

7. Superselection Rules and Symmetries

   • D. Giulini

   Pages 259-315

8. Open Quantum Systems

   • J. Kupsch

   Pages 317-356

9. Stochastic Collapse Models

   • I.-O. Stamatescu

   Pages 357-381

10. Related Concepts and Methods

    • H. D. Zeh

    Pages 383-393

11. Equation of Motion of a Mass Point

    • E. Joos

    Pages 395-397

12. Solutions for the Equation of Motion

    • E. Joos

    Pages 399-406

13. Elementary Properties of Composite Systems in Quantum Mechanics

    • D. Giulini

    Pages 407-414

14. Quantum Correlations

    • I.-O. Stamatescu

    Pages 415-418

15. Hamiltonian Formulation of Quantum Mechanics

    • D. Giulini

    Pages 419-424

16. Galilean Symmetry of Non-Relativistic Quantum Mechanics

    • D. Giulini

    Pages 425-431

17. Stochastic Processes

    • I.-O. Stamatescu

    Pages 433-443

18. Back Matter

    Pages 445-500

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When we were preparing the first edition of this book, the concept of de­ coherence was known only to a minority of physicists. In the meantime, a wealth of contributions has appeared in the literature - important ones as well as serious misunderstandings. The phenomenon itself is now experimen­ tally clearly established and theoretically well understood in principle. New fields of application, discussed in the revised book, are chaos theory, informa­ tion theory, quantum computers, neuroscience, primordial cosmology, some aspects of black holes and strings, and others. While the first edition arose from regular discussions between the authors, thus leading to a clear" entanglement" of their otherwise quite different chap­ ters, the latter have thereafter evolved more or less independently. While this may broaden the book's scope as far as applications and methods are con­ cerned, it may also appear confusing to the reader wherever basic assumptions and intentions differ (as they do). For this reason we have rearranged the or­ der of the authors: they now appear in the same order as the chapters, such that those most closely related to the "early" and most ambitious concept of decoherence are listed first. The first three authors (Joos, Zeh, Kiefer) agree with one another that decoherence (in contradistinction to the Copen­ hagen interpretation) allows one to eliminate primary classical concepts, thus neither relying on an axiomatic concept of observables nor on a probability interpretation of the wave function in terms of classical concepts.

• Decoherence
• Open Quantum Systems
• Quantum Field Theory
• chaos theory
• quantum mechanics

From the reviews of the second edition:

"This book is essential for anyone who is working in the quantum-classical divide." (Contemporary Physics 2005, 46, page 146)

"The goal of this collective book is the understanding, in the framework of quantum mechanics, of the appearance of our macroscopic classical world … . I strongly recommend it to all those interested in an understanding of quantum mechanics that goes beyond the pragmatic point of view summarized in the formula: ‘for all practical purpose’." (Philippe Spindel, Physicalia Vol. 57 (2), 2005)

"This book is essential for anyone who is working in the quantum-classical divide. Most of the material is written in a pedagogical style so that it can easily be used as an aid to start ones research in this field. The size of the reference list is impressive … ." (J.Hartley, Contemporary Physics, Vol. 46 (2) 2005)

"Since quantum mechanical interpretational issues are usually very sensitive matters, not to mention controversial, the authors are commended for putting together a coherent text … . is highly recommended reading for anyone with a serious interest in basic problems in physics, notwithstanding being a senior scientist or an advanced graduate student. It constitutes an excellent portrayal of issues related to our fundamental conception of natural science. It also has much to offer to readers who already have experienced knowledge of physics." (Erkki J. Brändas, International Journal of Quantum Chemistry, Vol. 99, 2004)

• Schenefeld, Germany

  Erich Joos

• Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

  H. Dieter Zeh, Ion-Olimpiu Stamatescu

• Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität zu Köln, Köln, Germany

  Claus Kiefer

• Physikalisches Institut, Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

  Domenico Giulini

• Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany

  Joachim Kupsch

• Forschungsstätte der Ev. Studiengemeinschaft (FESt), Heidelberg, Germany

  Ion-Olimpiu Stamatescu

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