Quantum decoherence. Poincaré seminar 2005. Papers based on the presentations at the seminar, Paris, France, Novenber 19, 2005 (Q852302)

The book consists of contributions given by major experts on decoherence on the occasion of the 2005 Poincaré Seminar. Three contributions are of theoretical nature: a general introduction and presentation of the subject by W. H. Zurek; a discussion of the very concept of decoherence in a historical perspective by H. D. Zeh; a treatment of the interplay between decoherence and the Zeno effect by E. Joos. Two contributions address the study of coherence and decoherence in actual experiments: experiments in atomic physics studying the interaction of a mesoscopic field with single atoms realized in cavity QED discussed by J. M. Raimond and S. Haroche; experiments in condensed matter realized with the so called ``quantronium'' circuit presented by D. Esteve et al. A further contribution by J. Kempe gives an overview of the main approaches to quantum error correction. Essentially all authors have paid attention to give a pedagogical presentation, providing many useful references. The result is a nice, compact introduction to the subject, accessible to a wide audience.