Semiclassical description of diffraction and its quenching by the forward-backward version of the initial value representation

It is shown that the forward-backward (FB) version of the semiclassical (SC) initial value representation (IVR) is able to describe quantum interference/coherence (i.e., diffraction) of particles transmitted by a two-slit potential. (In contrast, the linearized approximation to the SC-IVR, which leads to the classical Wigner model, is unable to do so.) FB-IVR calculations are also used to describe the (partial) quenching of this interference structure (i.e., "de-coherence") when the two-slit potential is coupled to a bath of harmonic oscillators. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.