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Equation 15 · Part 1 · Decoherence: The Quiet Selection That Makes the World Look Solid

Symbol l

l(t)=(8Λt)−1/2l(t) = (8\Lambda t)^{-1/2}
ll

What this part means

l is part of the quantity the equation computes from the expression on the right.

Its job in the formula

l is part of the quantity the equation computes from the expression on the right.

The passage around this formula

The same paper also tracks what happens to the coherence length itself, not just the decay rate: solving the full master equation for a free particle gives a coherence width l(t) = (8Λ\Lambda t)^{-1/2} , meaning it shrinks as the inverse square root of time for as long as scattering dominates, and does so from whatever width the particle’s wave packet started with [ 7 ] . Joos and Zeh flag the counterintuitive consequence themselves: the everyday expectation that a free…

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Learn the underlying idea

A function assigns an output to each allowed input. The expression f(x) means “apply f to x”.

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Sources cited in the surrounding passage

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