Decoherence and the Quantum-to-Classical Transition

by Maximilian A. Schlosshauer

This detailed, accessible introduction to the field of quantum decoherence reviews the basics and then explains the essential consequences of the phenomenon for our understanding of the world. The discussion includes, among other How the classical world of our experience can emerge from quantum mechanics; the implications of decoherence for various interpretations of quantum mechanics; recent experiments confirming the puzzling consequences of the quantum superposition principle and making decoherence processes directly observable.

Genres: Physics, Science, Philosophy, Quantum Mechanics

433 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Peter Faul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decoherence is the process by which quantum systems entangle with the environment. As it turns out, decomposing quantum systems into these components allows for a number of interesting conclusions to be drawn. For instance it naturally explains why we very rarely see interference effects macroscopically. It also distinguishes certain pointer states and in part justifies why they seem to be the states we encounter in real life. While this sounds almost philosophical it's important to note that decoherence is derived purely mathematically and is intrinsic to quantum mechanics no matter your interpretation (in fact decoherence has actually been experimentally verified).

The book does eventually go into the more philosophical implication of decoherence relating the results to various interpretations.

This is a brilliant overview of decoherence and its a must read if you're interested in interpretations of quantum mechanics. I was only interested in Chapters 1, 2, 6, 8 and 9, basically those concerning decoherence itself and those discussing its philosophical interpretations. The rest I skimmed very quickly.

[Dmitry Podolsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is very comprehensive; I cannot recommend it as a good technical introduction into the subject, though. Many important developments (such as integro-differential master equations, instanton formalism for decoherence) are not discussed, sometimes only mentioned, and there is way too much philosophy of quantum mechanics (about half of the 450 pp book, by my estimation).