decoherence
UK/diːkəʊˈhɪəɹəns/
decoherence noun: loss of quantum coherence (phase relation between the quantum states of particles) in a physical system as it interacts with its environment.
Noun
decoherence (countable and uncountable, plural decoherences)
- Loss of quantum coherence (phase relation between the quantum states of particles) in a physical system as it interacts with its environment.
- There is a sense in which simple interference effects are destroyed when a system's environment becomes correlated with its state. This phenomenon is called decoherence. I shall consider three approaches here. According to one, decoherence alone explains why we get determinate records. According to...1999, Jeffrey A. Barrett, The Quantum Mechanics of Minds and Worlds, Oxford University Press, page 221
- We have already alluded to decoherence in connection with the emergence of classical space-time, the ‘collapse′ of the wave function (Case 3) and the notion of entanglement. Physicists have hailed the discovery of decoherence as ‘the most important advance in the foundation of quantum theory since...2004, Friedel Weinert, The Scientist as Philosopher: Philosophical Consequences of Great Scientific Discoveries, Springer, page 272
- Synonyms:
- decoherency, quantum decoherence
- The normal condition of sensitiveness in a coherer; reversion to such condition.
Examples of decoherence in a sentence
- According to one, decoherence alone explains why we get determinate records.1999, Jeffrey A. Barrett, The Quantum Mechanics of Minds and Worlds, Oxford University Press, page 221:
- We have already alluded to decoherence in connection with the emergence of classical space-time, the ‘collapse′ of the wave function (Case 3) and the notion of entanglement.2004, Friedel Weinert, The Scientist as Philosopher: Philosophical Consequences of Great Scientific Discoveries, Springer, page 272:
- A detailed investigation of decoherence during gating due to a bosonic environment was performed in the original work of Loss and DiVincenzo.2008, D. Klauser, W. A. Coish, Daniel Loss, “Quantum-Dot Spin Qubit and Hyperfine Interaction”, in Rolf Haug, editor, Advances in Solid...
- One way of preventing both decoherences is to set up the system in a "non-decoherent quantum state."2015, Fernanda Samaniega, “Manipulating Spins: Causality and Decoherence”, in Uskali Mäki, Ioannis Votsis, Stéphanie Ruphy, Gerhard Schurz...
Synonyms of decoherence
Forms of decoherence
| plural | decoherences |
|---|
Origin of decoherence
First attested 1902 (OED) in the electrical engineering sense "the resetting of a coherer." From decohere (also 1902) + -ence, representing the verbal noun (compare decohesion, decoherency). The quantum mechanics concept was introduced in 1970 by German physicist H. Dieter Zeh, writing in the journal Foundations of Physics.
Words formed from decoherence
Phrases with decoherence
Questions about decoherence
- What does decoherence mean?
- Decoherence means loss of quantum coherence (phase relation between the quantum states of particles) in a physical system as it interacts with its environment.
- How do you use decoherence in a sentence?
- According to one, decoherence alone explains why we get determinate records.
- What part of speech is decoherence?
- Decoherence is a noun.
- How do you pronounce decoherence?
- Decoherence is pronounced /diːkəʊˈhɪəɹəns/ (UK).
- What is the plural of decoherence?
- The plural of decoherence is decoherences.
Words near decoherence in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: decoherence (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “decoherence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/decoherence. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.