A Numerical Study of Quantum Decoherence

Abstract

The present paper provides a numerical investigation of the decoherence effect induced on a quantum heavy particle by the scattering with a light one. The time dependent two-particle Schrödinger equation is solved by means of a time-splitting method. The damping undergone by the non-diagonal terms of the heavy particle density matrix is estimated numerically, as well as the error in the Joos-Zeh approximation formula.