Time scale of stationary decoherence

Abstract

The decoherence of a test particle interacting with an ideal gas is studied by the help of the effective Lagrangian, derived in the leading order of the perturbation expansion and in order $\ord{\partial^2_t}$. The stationary decoherence time is found to be comparable to or longer than the diffusion time. The decoherence time reaches its minimal value for classical, completely decohered environment, suggesting that physical decoherence is slowed down as compared with diffusion by the quantum coherence of the environment.