2011/04/30 by F. Gautier, Florian Gautier, Julien Serreau +1
Computer Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Quantum Information and Cryptography #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #astro-ph.CO #hep-ph #hep-th #nucl-th #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.83.125004
published as Phys.Rev.D83:125004,2011 · 14 pages, 7 figures. Published version (Phys. Rev. D, minor corrections)
arxiv created 2011/05/18 · openalex publication_date 2011/06/01 · arxiv updated 2011/06/13 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We study the properties of a non-Gaussian density matrix for an O(N) scalar field in the context of the incomplete description picture. This is of relevance for studies of decoherence and entropy production in quantum field theory. In particular, we study how the inclusion of the simplest non-Gaussian correlator in the set of measured observables modifies the effective (Gaussian) description one can infer from the knowledge of the two-point functions only. We compute exactly the matrix elements of the non-Gaussian density matrix at leading order in a 1/N expansion. This allows us to study the quantum properties (purity, entropy, coherence) of the corresponding state for arbitrarily strong non-Gaussianity. We find that if the Gaussian and the non-Gaussian observers essentially agree concerning quantum purity or correlation entropy, their conclusion can significantly differ for other, more detailed aspects such as the degree of quantum coherence of the system.