Decoherence: A dynamical approach to superselection rules?

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dc.creatorGiulini, Domenico
dc.date2000-10-26
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T06:01:02Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T06:01:02Z
dc.descriptionIt is well known that the dynamical mechanism of decoherence may cause apparent superselection rules, like that of molecular chirality. These `environment-induced' or `soft' superselection rules may be contrasted with `hard' superselection rules, like that of electric charge, whose existence is usually rigorously demonstrated by means of certain symmetry principles. We address the question of whether this distinction between `hard' and `soft' is well founded and argue that, despite first appearance, it might not be. For this we give a detailed and somewhat pedagogical exposition of the basic structural properties of the spaces of states and observables in order to establish a fairly precise notion of superselection rules. We then discuss two examples: the Bargmann superselection rule for overall mass in ordinary quantum mechanics, and the superselection rule for charge in quantum electrodynamics.
dc.description25 pages, LaTeX-2e, no figures, Springer style file <cl2emult.sty> needed
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0010090
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0010090
dc.identifierLect.Notes Phys. 559 (2000) 67-92
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/89143
dc.subjectQuantum Physics
dc.subjectGeneral Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
dc.subjectHigh Energy Physics - Theory
dc.titleDecoherence: A dynamical approach to superselection rules?
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