Decoherence time and spin measurement in the Stern-Gerlach experiment

We present an analytical solution to the decoherence time for the spin measurement and the diagonalization of the density matrix of spin variables in the Stern-Gerlach experiment. This solution requires the calculation of the Pauli spinor with a spatial extension, which is not found in quantum mechanics textbooks. With this full spinor and the measured position of the particle we demonstrate the three postulates of quantum measurement: quantization, spectral decomposition and wave function reduction. The transition from a quantum superposition to a statistical mixture is well explained in this way, but not the single result that always emerges from a particular experiment. The spinor spatial extension also allows the introduction of the de Broglie-Bohm trajectories which give a very simple explanation of the particles' impact.

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Additional Info

Field Value
Source AIP Conference Proceedings
Author Gondran, Michel, Gondran, Alexandre, Kenoufi, Abdel
Maintainer CCSD
Last Updated May 7, 2026, 05:02 (UTC)
Created May 7, 2026, 05:02 (UTC)
Identifier hal-00938521
Language en
Rights https://about.hal.science/hal-authorisation-v1/
contributor Laboratoire d'analyse et modélisation de systèmes pour l'aide à la décision (LAMSADE) ; Université Paris Dauphine-PSL ; Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
coverage Växjö, Sweden
creator Gondran, Michel
date 2011-06-14T00:00:00
harvest_object_id 3cbc196f-e862-4115-994f-93dd345e9540
harvest_source_id 3374d638-d20b-4672-ba96-a23232d55657
harvest_source_title test moissonnage SELUNE
metadata_modified 2025-06-13T00:00:00
relation info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1063/1.3688960
set_spec type:COMM