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Quantum coherence of photons to cosmological distances

Abstract:

We identify potential sources of decoherence for U(1) gauge bosons from a cosmological standpoint. Besides interactions with different species in the cosmological medium, we also consider effects due to the expansion of the Universe, which can produce particles (especially scalars) that can potentially interact with the photon in a quantum state. We look in particular at the case of axionlike particles and their predicted decay channels in our analysis. These interactions are shown to have a negligible effect as far as decoherence goes. Interaction rates with cosmic microwave background radiation or through Thomson scattering are small, so that the interstellar medium remains the biggest decoherence factor. Thus, quantum teleportation experiments with photon energies in the range 1-10 keV should be feasible at cosmological distances up to the galaxy formation epoch or beyond (z∼100).