  A theoretical model is presented which explains the dominant decoherence
process in a microcavity polariton condensate. The mechanism which is invoked
is the effect of self-phase modulation, whereby interactions transform
polariton number fluctuations into random energy variations. The model shows
that the phase coherence decay, g1(t), has a Kubo form, which can be Gaussian
or exponential, depending on whether the number fluctuations are slow or fast.
This fluctuation rate also determines the decay time of the intensity
correlation function, g2(t), so it can be directly determined experimentally.
The model explains recent experimental measurements of a relatively fast
Gaussian decay for g1(t), but also predicts a regime, further above threshold,
where the decay is much slower.
