Environment-induced pointer-basis selection (source code)

= Environment-induced pointer-basis selection

If record projectors commute with an apparatus-environment interaction, their populations are preserved while the corresponding environmental states can become distinguishable. Their <conditional environment overlap> then suppresses interference in the apparatus <reduced density matrix>. A nondegenerate record coupling can thereby select robust sectors; commutation alone does not select a unique basis in a degenerate or trivial interaction.<Pointer basis of quantum apparatus: Into what mixture does the wave packet collapse? by W. H. Zurek>[1981 abstract: recorded observables and the apparatus-environment interaction commutation condition]{ref}