Measuring Decoherence Due to Quantum Vacuum Fluctuations

Abstract: The interaction of a particle with vacuum fluctuations--which theoretically exist even in the complete absence of matter--can lead to observable irreversible decoherence if it were possible to switch on and off the particle charge suddenly. We compute the leading order decoherence effect for such a scenario and propose an experimental setup for its detection. Such a measurement might provide further insights into the nature of vacuum fluctuations and a novel precision test for the decoherence theory.