Entanglement-induced decoherence and energy eigenstates

Abstract

Using recent results in the field of quantum chaos we derive explicit expressions for the time scale of decoherence induced by the system-environment entanglement. For a generic system-environment interaction and for a generic quantum chaotic system as environment, conditions are derived for energy eigenstates to be preferred states in the weak coupling regime. A simple model is introduced to numerically confirm our predictions. The results presented here may also help with understanding the dynamics of quantum entanglement generation in chaotic quantum systems. © 2008 The American Physical Society.