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  "slug": "decoherence-as-the-ultimate-consequence-of-linear-accumulation",
  "title": "Decoherence as the Ultimate Consequence of Linear Accumulation",
  "authors": [
    "Rowan Brad Quni-Gudzinas"
  ],
  "abstract": "We argue that quantum decoherence is not a qualitatively distinct phenomenon requiring new physical postulates, but the inevitable long-time consequence of a single structural assumption: that small environmental perturbations accumulate linearly in the phase space of a system–environment composite. We formalize this claim with a discrete kick model in which each system–environment interaction deposits an independent phase perturbation of characteristic magnitude σ_φ; linear accumulation of perturbation variance yields the exponential coherence decay C(t)=exp(-Γ_kickσ_φ² t/2), with dephasing time T₂=2/(Γ_kickσ_φ²). Equivalently, in a multi-mode formulation, the total decoherence rate is the linear sum Γ_Σ=∑_k=1^NΓ_k over N environmental modes, so macroscopic classicality is a counting statement. [...]",
  "abstract_markdown": "We argue that quantum decoherence is not a qualitatively distinct phenomenon requiring new physical postulates, but the inevitable long-time consequence of a single structural assumption: that small environmental perturbations accumulate linearly in the phase space of a system–environment composite. We formalize this claim with a discrete kick model in which each system–environment interaction deposits an independent phase perturbation of characteristic magnitude $\\sigma_\\phi$; linear accumulation of perturbation variance yields the exponential coherence decay $C(t)=\\exp(-\\Gamma_{\\mathrm{kick}}\\sigma_\\phi^2 t/2)$, with dephasing time $T_2=2/(\\Gamma_{\\mathrm{kick}}\\sigma_\\phi^2)$. Equivalently, in a multi-mode formulation, the total decoherence rate is the linear sum $\\Gamma_\\Sigma=\\sum_{k=1}^{N}\\Gamma_k$ over $N$ environmental modes, so macroscopic classicality is a counting statement. [...]",
  "date": "2026-10-09",
  "first_published": "2026-10-09",
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        "name": "Rowan Brad Quni-Gudzinas",
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    "titles": [
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        "description": "We argue that quantum decoherence is not a qualitatively distinct phenomenon requiring new physical postulates, but the inevitable long-time consequence of a single structural assumption: that small environmental perturbations accumulate linearly in the phase space of a system–environment composite. We formalize this claim with a discrete kick model in which each system–environment interaction deposits an independent phase perturbation of characteristic magnitude σ_φ; linear accumulation of perturbation variance yields the exponential coherence decay C(t)=exp(-Γ_kickσ_φ² t/2), with dephasing time T₂=2/(Γ_kickσ_φ²). Equivalently, in a multi-mode formulation, the total decoherence rate is the linear sum Γ_Σ=∑_k=1^NΓ_k over N environmental modes, so macroscopic classicality is a counting statement. [...]",
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