Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2016) 131: 326
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2016-16326-9

Regular Article

Joint entropy and decoherence without dissipation in a driven harmonic oscillator

¹ Mesoscopic and Multilayer Structures Laboratory, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 479, Dschang, Cameroon
² International Chair in Mathematical Physics and Applications (ICMPA-UNESCO Chair), University of Abomey-Calavi, P.O. Box 50, 072, Cotonou, Republic of Benin
³ Laboratory of Mechanics, Materials and Structures, Faculty of Science, University of Yaoundé I, P.O. Box 812, Yaoundé, Cameroon

^* e-mail: fotuea@yahoo.fr

Received: 26 May 2016
Accepted: 13 August 2016
Published online: 20 September 2016

Abstract

The joint entropy of a non-dissipative driven harmonic oscillator for both the single and the double Gaussian states is determined. It is shown that, a non-random driving force does not influence the evolution of the system’s joint entropy. For a random driving force however, the joint entropy increases almost monotonically with time, while exhibiting oscillatory behavior. The increase is a further proof of the decoherence mechanism in the system, for which we determine the duration and other characteristics.