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Free electron motion in an electromagnetic field at zero temperature and the dependence on its rest mass

  • Modern Trends in Laser Physics
  • Published:
Laser Physics

Abstract

Efforts to achieve quantum computation, teleportation, and communication depend on minimizing decoherence, which is the destruction of a quantum interference pattern. Here, we examine effects arising from the universal zero-point (temperature T = 0) oscillations of the electromagnetic field on a free electron in a Schrödinger cat superposition state. A unique conclusion is that the spreading of an electron wavepacket and the rate of decay of decoherence depend on the bare mass m of the electron. However, only for m = 0 does decoherence occur and the fact that it occurs almost instantly is ruled out by electron interference experiments. For m ≠ 0, the electron essentially behaves as a free particle.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1120, USA

    G. W. Ford

  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803-4001, USA

    R. F. O’Connell

Authors
  1. G. W. Ford
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  2. R. F. O’Connell
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Original Text © Astro, Ltd., 2007.

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Ford, G.W., O’Connell, R.F. Free electron motion in an electromagnetic field at zero temperature and the dependence on its rest mass. Laser Phys. 17, 302–304 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1054660X07040020

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1054660X07040020

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