Decoherence and recoherence from vacuum fluctuations near a conducting plate

Abstract

The interaction between particles and the electromagnetic field induces decoherence generating a small suppression of fringes in an interference experiment. We show that if a double slit--like experiment is performed in the vicinity of a conducting plane, the fringe visibility depends on the position (and orientation) of the experiment relative to the conductor's plane. This phenomenon is due to the change in the structure of vacuum induced by the conductor and is closely related to the Casimir effect. We estimate the fringe visibility both for charged and for neutral particles with a permanent dipole moment. The presence of the conductor may tend to increase decoherence in some cases and to reduce it in others. A simple explanation for this peculiar behavior is presented.