Experimental test of decoherence theory using electron matter waves

Abstract

A controlled decoherence environment is studied experimentally by free electron interaction with semiconducting and metallic plates. The results are compared with physical models based on decoherence theory to investigate the quantum-classical transition. The experiment is consistent with decoherence theory and rules out established Coulomb interaction models in favor of plasmonic excitation models. In contrast to previous decoherence experiments, the present experiment is sensitive to the onset of decoherence.

Absence of decoherence in the electron-wall system

“…In terms of other decoherence models, Howie's model gave agreement with Hasselbach's experiment. In our experiments, some decoherence is predicted in both cases for GaAs experiment, and stronger decoherence for the earlier silicon experiment [10]. This was not observed in the previous or current experiment.…”

“…However, the interaction with the wall was two orders of magnitude smaller than that predicted. Beierle et al [10] and Kerker et al [11] followed up with similar experiments and confirmed the discrepancy. An alternative explanaton for contrast loss is dephasing.…”

“…It was stated that the model should work for resistivity in the range of 10 −8 to 10 8 Ωcm consistent with the experimental values. The decoherence time of the electron flying above a semiconductor wall is given by [4,10],…”

“…Anglin and Zurek state that the model should work for resistivity in the 10 −8 Ω cm to 10 8 Ω cm range. The decoherence time of the electron flying above the wall (semiconductor) is given by [4,10],…”

Testing Quantum Dissipation Theory with Electron Diffraction

“…The rate of dissipation is used to predict the decoherence rate [10]. The initial reported observation of the decoherence effect [12] was criticized in [13,14]. If the electron-wall system is a good candidate for observing decoherence is a topic of current research [14,15].…”