Quantum theory of sequential decay processes

The problem of giving a theoretical description of sequential decays is reconsidered. It is shown that the usual quantum description of such processes cannot be reconciled with the classical one. This fact suggests a more critical analysis of the actual physical situation occurring in such processes. By taking into consideration the remarkable successes which have been obtained in the description of nonsequential decays by considering the unavoidable interactions of the decaying system with the measuring apparatuses, an analogous formalism is developed for the problem under consideration. The description of the process is given in the language of the density operator. The evolution equation for such an operator has the standard form of the dynamical equations in the theory of quantum dynamical semigroups. Also in the present case, as for the nonsequential decay, the more realistic description which takes into account the actual set-up of a decay experiment turns out to yield results which agree completely with the classical ones. Some interesting problems arising within the present formalism are discussed.