Quantum decoherence without reduced dynamics

Abstract

With a choice of boundary conditions for solutions of the Schr\"odinger equation, state vectors and density operators even for closed systems evolve asymmetrically in time. For open systems, standard quantum mechanics consequently predicts irreversibility and signatures of the extrinsic arrow of time. The result is a new framework for the treatment of decoherence, not based on a reduced dynamics or a master equation. As an application, using a general model we quantitatively match previously puzzling experimental results and can conclude that they are the measurable consequence of the indistinguishability of separate, uncontrolled interactions between systems and their environment.