Einselection from incompatible decoherence channels

Abstract

Decoherence of quantum systems from entanglement with an unmonitored environment is to date the most compelling explanation of the emergence of a classical picture from a quantum world. While it is well understood for a single decoherence channel, the role in the einselection process of a complex system-environment interaction remains to be clarified. In this paper, we analyze an open quantum dynamics inspired by CQED experiments with two incompatible decoherence channels. We study and solve exactly the problem using quantum trajectories and phase-space techniques. The einselection optimization problem is studied numerically and we show that Fock states remain the most robust states to decoherence up to a critical coupling.