Entanglement is studied in the framework of Dyson's S-matrix theory in relativistic quantum field theory, which leads to a natural definition of entangled states of a particle-antiparticle pair and the spin operator from a Noether current. As an explicit example, the decay of a massive pseudo-scalar particle into a pair of electron and positron is analyzed. Two spin operators are extracted from the Noether current. The Wigner spin operator characterizes spin states at the rest frame of each fermion and, although not measurable in the laboratory, gives rise to a straightforward generalization of low-energy analysis of entanglement to the ultrarelativistic domain. In contrast, if one adopts a (modified) Dirac spin operator, the entanglement measured by spin correlation becomes maximal near the threshold of the decay, while the entanglement is replaced by the classical correlation for the ultrarelativistic electron-positron pair by analogy to the case of neutrinos, for which a hidden-variables type of description is possible. Chiral symmetry differentiates the spin angular momentum and the magnetic moment. The use of weak interaction that can measure helicity is suggested in the analysis of entanglement at high energies instead of a Stern-Gerlach apparatus, which is useless for the electron. A difference between the electron spin at high energies and the photon linear polarization is also noted. The Standard Model can describe all of the observable properties of leptons.
Entanglement is studied in the framework of Dyson's S-matrix theory in relativistic quantum field theory, which leads to a natural definition of entangled states of a particle-antiparticle pair and the spin operator from a Noether current. As an explicit example, the decay of a massive pseudo-scalar particle into a pair of electron and positron is analyzed. Two spin operators are extracted from the Noether current. The Wigner spin operator characterizes spin states at the rest frame of each fermion and, although not measurable in the laboratory, gives rise to a straightforward generalization of low-energy analysis of entanglement to the ultrarelativistic domain. In contrast, if one adopts a (modified) Dirac spin operator, the entanglement measured by spin correlation becomes maximal near the threshold of the decay, while the entanglement is replaced by the classical correlation for the ultrarelativistic electron-positron pair by analogy to the case of neutrinos, for which a hidden-variables type of description is possible. Chiral symmetry differentiates the spin angular momentum and the magnetic moment. The use of weak interaction that can measure helicity is suggested in the analysis of entanglement at high energies instead of a Stern-Gerlach apparatus, which is useless for the electron. A difference between the electron spin at high energies and the photon linear polarization is also noted. The Standard Model can describe all of the observable properties of leptons.
But no good and simple criterion of entanglement for more complicated cases is known. This situation is rather strange since everybody talks about entanglement. How to produce and how to measure the entanglement are also interesting issues. When one measures the spin of the electron, for example, there are three major operators one can think of [1] a) Wigner spin, b) Dirac spin, c) Magnetic moment. The notion of chirality is important to distinguish these operators. Incidentally, many people talk about the Stern-Gerlach apparatus to measure the spin polarization of the electron. This is also strange since N. Bohr and N. F. Mott and other prominent people have shown many years ago that one cannot measure the electron spin polarization by a Stern-Gerlach apparatus, since the inhomogeneous magnetic field disturbs the motion of the electron so much and it is impossible to detect the spin orientation. The Stern-Gerlach particles are electrically neutral. One may ask if novel features appear in high energy physics? Chiral symmetry (including the use of weak interaction) can become important such as in a neutrino-antineutrino pair in Z decay
In this paper, we consider two examples of an entanglement in two-qubit systems and an example of entanglement in quantum field theory (QFT). In the beginning, we study the entanglement of two spin states by a magnetic field. A nonzero entanglement appears for interacting spins. When the coupling between the spins is constant, we study the entanglement by several types of time-dependent magnetic fields. In the case of a constant difference between [Formula: see text] components of magnetic fields acting on each spin, we find several time-dependent coupling functions [Formula: see text] that also allow us to analyze analytically and numerically the entanglement measure. Considering two photons moving in an electron medium, we demonstrate that they can be entangled in a controlled way by applying an external magnetic field. The magnetic field affecting electrons of the medium affects photons and, thus, causes an entanglement of the photon beams. The third example is related to the effect of production of electron–positron pairs from the vacuum by a strong external electric field. Here, we have used a general nonperturbative expression for the density operator of the system under consideration. Applying a reduction procedure to this density operator, we construct mixed states of electron and positron subsystems. Calculating the von Neumann entropy of such states, we obtain the loss of information due to the reduction and, at the same time, the entanglement measure of electron and positron subsystems. This entanglement can be considered as an example of an entanglement in QFT.
The spin is the prime example of a qubit. Encoding and decoding information in the spin qubit is operationally well defined through the Stern-Gerlach setup in the nonrelativistic (i.e., low velocity) limit. However, an operational definition of the spin in the relativistic regime is missing. The origin of this difficulty lies in the fact that, on the one hand, the spin gets entangled with the momentum in Lorentz-boosted reference frames, and on the other hand, for a particle moving in a superposition of velocities, it is impossible to "jump" to its rest frame, where spin is unambiguously defined. Here, we find a quantum reference frame transformation corresponding to a "superposition of Lorentz boosts," allowing us to transform to the rest frame of a particle that is in a superposition of relativistic momenta with respect to the laboratory frame. This enables us to first move to the particle's rest frame, define the spin measurements there (via the Stern-Gerlach experimental procedure), and then move back to the laboratory frame. In this way, we find a set of "relativistic Stern-Gerlach measurements" in the laboratory frame, and a set of observables satisfying the spin su(2) algebra. This operational procedure offers a concrete way of testing the relativistic features of the spin, and opens up the possibility of devising quantum information protocols for spin in the special-relativistic regime.
We present a comprehensive theoretical framework for probing quantum entanglement in the decay angular distributions of a spin-S particle-antiparticle pair AAˉ, where each particle decays sequentially into a two-body final state, A→B+C and Aˉ→Bˉ+Cˉ, with B(Bˉ) carrying spin b and C(Cˉ) being spinless. Starting from the most general polarized initial state, we derive the fully differential angular distribution W(θ1,θ2,ϕ1,ϕ2) and identify observables ⟨cos(2S(ϕ1∓ϕ2))⟩ whose expectation values directly depend on the entanglement-sensitive coefficients Re(α−S,∓SαS,±S∗) of the initial state. The proportionality factor C(S,b) in these relations is computed explicitly. For bosonic decays (b=0,1,2,…), C(S,b) is universal and independent of decay dynamics; in particular, C(S,0)=1/2 for any S, and C(1,1)=1/8, matching known results for W+W− decays. For fermionic decays (b=21,23,25…), C(S,b) depends explicitly on the spin analysis powers αA/Aˉ, making entanglement extraction more decay-dependent. We further demonstrate, within the context of e+e−→γ∗→AAˉ production, how αA/Aˉ can be determined experimentally using specific angular observables restricted to the beam-axis region. Our results highlight the special role of bosonic decays in providing clean, model-independent tests of quantum entanglement at colliders, while outlining a pathway for entanglement measurement in fermionic cases through supplementary polarization information.
Abstract The Pryce (e) spin and position operators of the quantum theory of Dirac's free field were re-defined and studied recently with the help of a new spin symmetry and suitable spectral representations [Eur. Phys. J. C 82, 1073 (2022)]. This approach is generalized here, associating a pair of integral operators acting directly on particle and antiparticle wave spinors in momentum representation to any integral operator in configuration representation, acting on mode spinors. This framework allows an effective quantization procedure, giving a large set of one-particle operators with physical meaning as the spin and orbital parts of the isometry generators, the Pauli-Lubanski and position operators, or other spin-type operators proposed to date. Special attention is paid to the operators that mix the particle and antiparticle sectors whose off-diagonal associated operators have oscillating terms producing Zitterbevegung. The principal operators of this type, including the usual coordinate operator, are derived here for the first time. As an application, it is shown that an apparatus measuring these new observables may prepare and detect one-particle wave packets moving uniformly without Zitterbewegung or spin dynamics, spreading in time normally as any other relativistic or even non-relativistic wave packet.
In this thesis, entanglement under fully relativistic settings are discussed. The thesis starts with a brief review of the relativistic quantum mechanics. In order to describe the effects of Lorentz transformations on the entangled states, quantum mechanics and special relativity are merged by construction of the unitary irreducible representations of Poincar{é} group on the infinite dimensional Hilbert space of state vectors. In this framework, the issue of finding the unitary irreducible representations of Poincar{é} group is reduced to that of the little group. Wigner rotation for the massive particles plays a crucial role due to its effect on the spin polarization directions. Furthermore, the physical requirements for constructing the correct relativistic spin operator is also studied. Then, the entanglement and Bell type inequalities are reviewed. Special attention has been devoted to two historical papers, by EPR in 1935 and by J.S. Bell in 1964. The main part of the thesis is based on the Lorentz transformation of the Bell states and the Bell inequalities on these transformed states. It is shown that entanglement is a Lorentz invariant quantity. That is, no inertial observer can see the entangled state as a separable one. However, it was shown that the Bell inequality may be satisfied for the Wigner angle dependent transformed entangled states. Since the Wigner rotation changes the spin polarization direction with the increased velocity, initial dichotomous operators can satisfy the Bell inequality for those states. By choosing the dichotomous operators taking into consideration the Wigner angle, it is always possible to show that Bell type inequalities can be violated for the transformed entangled states.