Time Scale and Completely Positive Dynamical Evolutions

Abstract

It is argued that in the description of macroscopic systems inside quantum mechanics the study of the dynamics of selected degrees of freedom slowly varying on a suitable time scale, corresponding to relevant observables for the given reduced description, is particularly meaningful. A formalism developing these ideas in the more simple case of a microsystem interacting with a macroscopic system is briefly outlined, together with an application to the field of neutron optics. The obtained reduced description relies on a T-matrix formalism and has the property of complete positivity.

12 pages, no figures, contribution to the Proceedings of the Conference on The foundations of quantum mechanics - historical analysis and open questions, 1998 (Lecce, Italy)