Path decoherence of charged and neutral particles near surfaces
Stefan Scheel, Stefan Yoshi Buhmann · Physical Review A · 2012
We show how the spatial decoherence properties of coherently split beams of charged and neutral particles are influenced by their (quantum) electromagnetic interaction with a metallic surface. Our investigation makes use of macroscopic quantum electrodynamics based on linear-response theory, which provides an alternative to microscopic models of the decoherence mechanism. We find strikingly simple expressions for the decoherence rate that admit an interpretation in terms of which path information due to image-charge interactions.