Quantum Uncertainties in the Schmidt Basis Given by Decoherence

Abstract

A common misconception is that decoherence gives the eigenstates that we observe to be fairly definite about a subsystem (e.g., approximate eigenstates of position) as the elements of the Schmidt basis in which the density matrix of the subsystem is diagonal. Here I show that in simple examples of linear systems with gaussian states, the Schmidt basis states have as much mean uncertainty about position as the full density matrix with its combination of different possibilities.