Localization and dispersivelike decoherence in vibronic states of a trapped ion

In this paper we investigate the decoherence dynamics of nonclassical vibronic states of a trapped ion. We assume that the origin of decoherence is the coupling of the vibrational modes with classical stochastic electric fields and the finite lifetime of the electronic levels. We show that these interactions lead to a dispersivelike decoherence dynamics. The theoretical results agree with the measurements reported by Meekhof [Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 1796 (1996)].