2007/07/17 by Heinz-Peter Breuer, Heinz‐Peter Breuer, Bassano Vacchini · 1 citation
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum optics and atomic interactions #cond-mat.stat-mech #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.76.036706
published as Phys. Rev. E 76 (2007) 036706 · 11 pages, revtex, 11 figures
arxiv created 2007/07/17 · openalex publication_date 2007/09/17 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Recently the general form of a translation-covariant quantum Boltzmann equation has been derived, which describes the dynamics of a tracer particle in a quantum gas. We develop a stochastic wave function algorithm that enables full three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations of this equation. The simulation method is used to study the approach to equilibrium for various scattering cross sections and to determine dynamical deviations from Gaussian statistics through an investigation of higher-order cumulants. Moreover, we examine the loss of coherence of superpositions of momentum eigenstates and determine the corresponding decoherence time scales to quantify the transition from quantum to classical behavior of the state of the test particle.