Collisional decoherence of polar molecules

Abstract

The quantum state of motion of a large and rotating polar molecule can lose coherence through the collisions with gas atoms. We show how the associated quantum master equation for the center of mass can be expressed in terms of the orientationally averaged differential and total scattering cross sections, for which we provide approximate analytic expressions. The master equation is then utilized to quantify collisional decoherence in a interference experiment with polar molecules.