Decoherence as a Detector-Resolution Flow
Abstract
We consider the QED final-state radiation modeled by γγ∗→π+π-+X, including its finite-temperature generalization, as an open quantum system, and study the evolution of the pion-pair momentum density matrix as the detector resolution scale is varied. We derive an explicit relation between the Lindblad jump operator and the Wilson line associated with soft photon radiation. We find that real emission and virtual correction serve as two separate contributions to momentum decoherence, and together they give rise to the real--virtual cancellation at the density-matrix level. The external finite-temperature photon bath modifies the decoherence rate by a Bose factor consistent with the Feynman--Vernon influence-functional approach. We emphasize that our conclusions also apply to hard fermion production thanks to the universality of the soft radiation.
Related
- Asymptotic Decoherence of an Unruh--DeWitt Detector in de Sitter Spacetime: Conformal versus Minimal Coupling
- Exact decoherence dynamics of a detector coupled to vacuum fluctuations in bounded geometries
- Detector Resolution and Observable Infrared Memory in QED
- Decoherence in matter-wave Talbot interference: A hydrodynamic probability-flow analysis
- A single radiation hard pixel detector for proton dosimetry, imaging, energy resolution and beam monitoring
BibTeX
@misc{ji2026decoherence,
title = {{Decoherence as a Detector-Resolution Flow}},
author = {Yao Ji and Yuqi Wang},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.19711},
eprint = {2610.19711},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.19711},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Decoherence as a Detector-Resolution Flow
AU - Yao Ji
AU - Yuqi Wang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.19711
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.19711
AB - We consider the QED final-state radiation modeled by γγ^∗→π^+π^-+X, including its finite-temperature generalization, as an open quantum system, and study the evolution of the pion-pair momentum density matrix as the detector resolution scale is varied. We derive an explicit relation between the Lindblad jump operator and the Wilson line associated with soft photon radiation. We find that real emission and virtual correction serve as two separate contributions to momentum decoherence, and together they give rise to the real--virtual cancellation at the density-matrix level. The external finite-temperature photon bath modifies the decoherence rate by a Bose factor consistent with the Feynman--Vernon influence-functional approach. We emphasize that our conclusions also apply to hard fermion production thanks to the universality of the soft radiation.
ER -