Current efforts to test quantum dissipation theory*

Decoherence can be provided by a dissipative environment as described by the Caldeira–Leggett equation [1]. This equation is foundational to the theory of quantum dissipation. However, no experimental test has been performed that measures for one physical system the correlation between the dissipation and the decoherence. Anglin and Zurek predicted that a resistive surface could provide such a dissipative environment for a free electron wave passing close to it [2]. Hasselbach’s group found that such a system decreased the interference contrast for an electron interferometer [3]. Previous studies using electron diffraction from a nanograting did not exhibit the expected level of decoherence [4]. In addition, it was demonstrated that dephasing could mask the effects of decoherence [5]. In this poster, we discuss the latest results in our efforts to measure both dissipation and decoherence in an electron-wall system for GaAs [6] and Gold surfaces.

References

[1] A. O. Caldeira and A. J. Leggett. Influence of damping on quantum interference: An exactly soluble

model. Phys. Rev. A, 31:1059–1066, Feb 1985.

[2] J. R. Anglin, J. P. Paz, and W. H. Zurek. Deconstructing decoherence. Phys. Rev. A, 55:4041–4053, Jun 1997.

[3] Peter Sonnentag and Franz Hasselbach. Measurement of decoherence of electron waves and visualization of the quantum-classical transition. Phys. Rev. Lett., 98:200402, May 2007.

[4] Peter J Beierle, Liyun Zhang, and Herman Batelaan. Experimental test of decoherence theory using electron matter waves. New Journal of Physics, 20(11):113030, Nov 2018.

[5] Z. Chen and H. Batelaan. Dephasing due to semi-conductor charging masks decoherence in electron-wall systems. Europhysics Letters, 129(4):40004, Mar 2020.

[6] Z. Chen, W. Huang and H. Batelaan. Aloof Electron Probing of In-Plane Surface Photovoltaic Charge Distributions on GaAs Surfaces. ACS Photonics, Jan 2025.