{
  "abstract": "The properties of quantum vacuum are highly sensitive to the underlying spacetime geometry and boundary conditions. We investigate in this paper the decoherence dynamics of a two-level system (detector) coupled to a vacuum scalar field through the $\\hatσ_z$-coupling scheme under various boundary environments. By rigorously evaluating the reduced density matrix of the detector, we derive an exact general expression for the detector's decoherence function, $γ(Δt)$, and use it to characterize the dynamical decoherence of a detector in three scenarios: free space, a perfectly reflecting boundary, and a cavity formed by two parallel reflecting boundaries. We find that in free space the detector's coherence decays monotonically with time, indicating that vacuum fluctuations alone inevitably lead to a complete loss of coherence. In the single-boundary case, by contrast, the detector's coherence displays non-monotonic time evolution: $γ(Δt)$ increases with time up to a maximum and then settles to a steady value, indicating that the initial coherence can be partially preserved due to the presence of the boundary. When the detector is placed inside a cavity, its coherence evolution exhibits oscillatory behavior, and a significant fraction of the initial coherence survives. Moreover, for the same detector-boundary distance, more coherence is preserved in the cavity case than in the single-boundary case. These results provide a viable route for engineering quantum coherence via boundary conditions.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.37087",
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Zi'an Zhao"
    },
    {
      "name": "Wenting Zhou"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/avmj216yqg41q.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.37087",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "avmj216yqg41q",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.37087",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "quant-ph"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3107|Quantum Electrodynamics and Casimir Effect"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7224131760",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.37087",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-27",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/avmj216yqg41q.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:35:50Z",
      "native_id": "2610.37087",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.37087"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:quant-ph",
      "subfield": "quantum"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Exact decoherence dynamics of a detector coupled to vacuum fluctuations in bounded geometries",
  "title_text": "Exact decoherence dynamics of a detector coupled to vacuum fluctuations in bounded geometries",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:35:50Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/avmj216yqg41q",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}